University  of  Calif  ornia  •  Berkeley 


SITTING  BUI,!,. 


RECKNT 

INDIAN  WARS, 

UNDER  THE  LEAD  OF 

SITTING    BUL-U 

AND  OTHER  CHIEFS; 
WITH  A  FULL  ACCOUNT  OF 


*  ^paze, 

AND 


By  JA1VIKS  P.  BOYD,  A.  Nl., 

Author  of  "  Life  of  General  Grant,"  "  Political  History  of 
U.  S."  Etc. 


PUBLISHERS  UNION, 
1891. 


Copyrighted  1891, 
By  JAMES  P.  BOYD. 


WHITE  EAGLE. 


CONTKNTS. 


Page. 
Introductory,   ..........          3 

CHAPTER  I. 
The  War  with  the  Pueblos, 15 

CHAPTER  II. 
The  Shoshone  Uprising,  .......         26 

CHAPTER  III. 
Wars  with  the  California  Tribes, 34 

CHAPTER  IV. 
A  Yuma  Massacre, .         .        39 

CHAPTER  V. 
The  Rogue  River  Wars, 49 

CHAPTER  VI. 

War  with  the  Cheyennes 58 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Navajo  Hostilities, 63 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
The  Affair  of  Mountain  Meadow, 73 

CHAPTER  IX. 
The  Spokane  Wars, 79 


4  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  X. 

Page. 

The  Pierce  Apaches  and  Arrapahoes,  ....        85 

CHAPTER  XI. 
Wars  with  the  Ogallallas  and  Crows,  99 

CHAPTER  XII. 
The  Piegan  Punishment,  1IQ 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
Modoc  and  Lava  Bed, "7 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
Custer  and  the  Sioux, 129 

CHAPTER  XV. 
The  Nez  Perces  Wars 153 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
The  Utes  of  White  River,       . l&5 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
The  Messiah  Craze  and  Ghost  Dance,          .        .        .         .175 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
Mastering  the  Situation, 211 

CHAPTER  XIX. 
Sentiment  Respecting  the  Uprising, 288 


List  of  Illustrations. 


Page. 
Sitting  Bull, Frontispiece. 

White  Eagle, 3 

White  Thunder,         ....  6 

Big  Joseph JI 

John  Grass J4 

Ration   Day  at  an  Agency,     .         .         •         .         •         •         •  J6 

Red  Cloud, T3i 

Standing  Holly,  (Sitting  Bull's  Daughter),  .         .         .134 

Sioux  on  the  Warpath J39 

A  Group  of  Sioux  Chiefs J42 

General  Nelson  A.  Miles •  i?9 

Ghost  Dance, l82 

Front  of  the  Company  Street,  ist  U.  S.  Cavalry  at  Ft.  Keogh,  187 

Tepees  of  Sioux  Chiefs  at  Ft.  Thunder,          ....  19° 

5 


WST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Page 

Bear-Comes-Back- Again, I96 

» 

View  of  the  Bad  Lands, 2O5 

Sitting  Bull  (late  photograph),         .....  2ii 

Officers  of  2oth  and  25th  Infantry,  at  Ft.  Keogh,            .  214 

A  Hostile  Encampment, 2I9 

Interior  of  Cavalry  Tent,  at  Pine  Ridge,  222 


WHITE  THUNDER. 


THE  recent  uprising  of  the  Sioux  Indians  and 
their  kindred  tribes  in  the  Dakotas,  added  to 
the  possibility  of  a  great  conspiracy  among 
all  the  mountain  tribes  of  the  West,  for  the 
purpose  of  rapine,  at  a  date  not  later  than  the 
spring  and  summer  oT  1891,  has  excited  lively 
interest  in  all  that  appertains  to  the  Red  Race, 
especially  their  wars,  numbers,  and  the  method 
of  dealing  with  them. 

The  policy  of  the  National  Government  toward 
the  Indian,  prior  to  his  removal  beyond  the  Mis 
sissippi,  was  the  cruel  policy  of  extinction.  In 
dians  were  then  more  numerous  than  now,  braver, 
more  in  the  way.  It  cost  a  great  deal  to  subdue 
them,  more  to  extinguish  them.  They  were  sel 
dom  friendly,  but  often  dangerous  enemies,  prone 
to  ally  themselves  with  foreign  nations,  as  was 
natural,  for  every  civilized  nation  has  treated 
them  better  than  our  own. 

The  time  came,  but  not  until  the  Indian  had 
fully  proved  that  he  preferred  extinction  to  slavery 
or  to  the  adoption  of  our  civilization,  when  it  was 
deemed  a  wise  policy  to  rid  the  lands  east  of  the 


8  INTRODUCTORY. 

Mississippi  of  his  presence.  All  west  of  the  Mis 
sissippi  was  then  deemed  sufficiently  open  to  make 
it  safe  for  the  transfer  to  take  place.  But  in 
practice  it  did  not  prove  so.  The  eastern  Indian 
had  a  little  of  the  salt  of  commerce  in  him  and 
had  cultivated  some  of  the  ways  of  industry. 
He  found  himself  among  enemies  of  his  own  race. 
He  was  scarcely  less  in  the  way — an  Indian  is 
always  in  the  way — of  our  own  advance.  So,  as 
one  of  its  first  acts  of  mercy,  the  Government 
availed  itself  of  the  cheap  lands  at  its  disposal, 
and  fell  to  the  policy  of  a  species  of  Indian  coloni 
zation,  which  took  the  form  of  granting  the 
migrating  tribes  large  reservations  and  a  sort  of 
self-government,  provided  they  would  stay  at 
home,  behave  themselves  and  do  whatever  was 
asked  of  them.  Most  of  the  tribes  did  this,  and 
those  who  confined  themselves  to  the  Indian  Ter 
ritory,  have  had  little  occasion  to  regret  the  dis 
position  which  was  made  of  them. 

But  that  did  not  settle  the  Indian  question  by 
any  means.  The  trans-Mississippi  lauds,  the 
lands  of  sterile  plains,  lofty  plateaus  and  mount 
ain  gorges,  were  peopled  by  numerous  tribes, 
more  nomadic  by  reason  of  their  immense  terri 
torial  spaces,  than  those  of  the  east ;  dependent 
for  food  on  a  lesser  variety  but  a  larger  size  of 
game,  as  the  buffalo,  and  actuated  by  a  savagery 


INTRODUCTORY.  9 

quite  as  cunning  and  remorseless  as  any  we  read 
of  in  the  history  of  colonial  times.  While  many 
of  these  tribes  are  of  the  same  general  family,  as 
indicated  by  their  speech  and  habits,  the  larger 
ones  are  quite  distinct,  being  separated  by  wide 
plains  or  high  mountain  barriers.  All  of  them 
lave  ever  evinced  the  traditional  hostility  to  the 
white  man,  regarding  his  advance  as  dispossess 
ion  and  his  methods  of  life  as  obnoxious. 

Therefore,  the  West-Mississippi  tribes  soon 
came  into  a  prominence  which  even  overshadow 
ed  that  which  the  East-Mississippi  tribes  had  oc 
cupied  in  history.  The  constant  opening  of  new 
lands  by  the  whites,  the  discovery  of  gold  in  Cal 
ifornia,  the  development  of  agriculture  and  min 
ing  in  various  directions,  all  of  the  forces  of  our 
civilization  which  constantly  brought  the  white 
man  into  contact  with  the  western  natives,  just 
as  constantly  produced  clashes  of  the  two  races. 
The  consequences  have  been  that  pioneering  has 
always  been  fraught  with  its  old  time  dangers, 
and  that  the  white  man  has  been  compelled  to  lit 
erally  fight  his  way  to  the  Pacific. 

For  fifty  years  the  Government  has  tried  to 
shape  a  policy  for  the  western  Indian,  which  had 
some  of  the  elements  of  intelligent  humanity  in 
it,  but  all  of  those  years  have  been  characterized 
by  violent  Indian  outbreaks,  and  often  protracted 


10  INTRODUCTORY. 

and  bloody  wars.  All  recognize  that  the  policy 
of  force  which  the  pioneer  uses  when  left  to 
himself,  is  based  only  on  his  selfishness,  and  is 
essentially  brutal.  That  the  Government  might 
escape  the  appearance  of  sanctioning  perpetual 
murders,  and  the  expense  of  continual  embroiL 
ment,  by  sending  troops  whenever  called  for  to 
protect  settlers  who  had  become  involved  with 
the  Indians,  it  adopted,  as  most  expedient,  a 
policy  for  the  Western  Indians  similar  to  that  it 
had  tried  on  with  the  Eastern.  While  it  did  not 
ask  them  to  migrate,  as  it  had  done  with  the 
Eastern  Indians,  and  for  the  reason  that  it  could 
not  force  them,  it  allotted  to  them  the  lands 
which  had  constituted  their  hunting  grounds 
and  called  them  "  reservations."  To  these  reser 
vations  it  gave  crude  metes  and  bounds,  and 
within  their  limits  the  respective  tribes  were  to 
dwell.  To  those  tribes  who  had  thus  materially 
curtailed  their  hunting  grounds  by  giving  up 
large  and  valuable  areas,  the  Government  offered 
a  consideration,  sometimes  ve^  handsome,  and 
the  increment  of  this  consideration,  or,  so  to 
speak,  the  interest  on  it,  was  to  go  to  the  support 
of  the  tribe  in  the  shape  of  annual  supplies.  In 
other  instances,  where  the  possibility  of  living 
by  the  chase  within  the  reservation  had  been 
entirely  cut  off,  the  consideration  was  a  set  of 


BIG  JOSEPH. 


INTRODUCTORY.  n 

supplies,  equal  to  a  living,  to  be  distributed  peri 
odically  at  regularly  established  agencies  and 
through  authorized  Government  agents. 

The  scheme  looked  plausible.  It  had  a  show 
of  fairness  about  it,  from  the  white  man's  stand 
point.  It  was  charitable  in  the  respect  that  the 
Indian  need  not  necessarily  starve  under  it. 
It  would  segregate  the  tribes  and  thus  dimin 
ish  the  possibility  of  conspiracies  and  alli 
ances  to  carry  on  extensive  wars.  It  would  set 
free  immense  tracts  of  land  for  the  progressive 
white  man.  It  would  encourage  the  Indian  to 
try  agriculture  and  the  peaceful  arts  on  his  own 
hook.  Even  if  he  had  to  be  fed  outright  and  in 
full  by  the  Government,  it  would  be  cheaper  in 
the  end,  than  the  annual  expenditure  of  millions 
to  maintain  an  army  with  which  to  fight  him. 
Thus  segregated,  and  his  territory  defined, 
missionary  enterprise  would  become  possible  in 
his  midst. 

The  difficulties  in  the  way  have  been  that  only 
the  weaker  and  tamer  tribes  have  accepted  the 
policy.  The  larger  and  wilder  tribes  have  not 
proven  amenable.  Their  example  has  always 
proven  a  source  of  dissatisfaction  with  those  upon 
the  reservations.  Again,  the  Indian,  naturally 
suspicious  and  discontented,  has  not  found  that 
faith  on  the  part  of  the  Government  and  his  white 


12  INTRODUCTORY. 

surroundings,  lie  was  given  to  expect.  Granted 
that  lie  is  a  mal-odorous  and  savage  being,  still  lie 
has  rights.  It  is  doubtful  whether  the  number  of 
Indian  wars  and  massacres  has  been  diminished 
by  a  single  one,  by  the  adoption  of  the  reser 
vation  and  agency  policy.  Certainly,  all  the  late 
Indian  outbreaks  have  involved  a  complaint  on 
the  part  of  the  tribes  that  the  Government 
had  violated  its  solemn  compacts  with  them. 
Some  of  these  wars  have  been  fierce  and  protracted 
and  have  cost  many  precious  lives  and  vast  sums 
of  money. 

It  is  our  purpose  to  describe  these  Indian  wars 
of  modern  times.  In  themselves  they  make  a 
thrilling  story  and  are  worthy  of  reading  on  that 
account  alone.  But  they  are  even  more  valuable 
at  this  time,  as  showing  how  the  western  Indian 
and  western  pioneering  repeat  the  older  history 
of  adventure,  of  daring,  of  cunning,  of  massacre^ 
and  how  illy  prepared  our  civilization  is,  even 
after  an  acquaintance  of  two  hundred  years,  to 
evolve  an  Indian  policy  which  is  at  all  creditable 
to  our  intelligence,  humanity  and  Christianity. 
It  may  be  that  a  study  of  the  Indian  wars  for  the 
last  fifty  years  will  show  wherein  our  policy  has 
been  ^;eak,  and,  mayhap,  it  may  show  what  ought 
to  be  done  to  remove  the  badge  of  shame  from 
our  management  of  one  of  the  most  vital  questions 


INTRODUCTORY.  13 

which  now  confronts  us  as  a  nation.  Just  now, 
General  Miles  proposes  to  transfer  the  entire  con 
trol  of  the  Indian  question  from  the  civil  to  the 
military  department  of  the  Government,  his 
theory  being  that  force  goes  further  with  an  In 
dian  than  suasion.  If  the  step  would  insure  a 
greater  degree  of  fairness  in  dealing  with  him, 
Heaven  help  the  nation  to  take  it. 

That  this  little  book  may  delight  all,  and  at 
the  same  time  help  us  to  solve  one  of  the  knot 
tiest  problems  of  the  day,  is  the  sincere  wish  of 
its  author. 


JOHN  GRASS. 


CHAPTER  I. 
WAR  WITH  THE  PUEBLOS. 

IN  June,  1846,  the  advance  of  the  then  "  Army 
of  the  West,"  under  Colonel  Kearney, 
marched  from  Fort  Leavenworth  into  New 
Mexico.  It  was  met  at  Fort  Bent  by  two  troops 
of  cavalry.  In  the  following  autumn  a  regiment 
of  men  under  Colonel  Price  started  for  the  scene, 
together  with  a  Mormon  detatchment  of  five  hun 
dred  men.  Altogether,  the  gathering  at  Fort 
Bent  consisted  of  nearly  seventeen  hundred  men, 
six  companies  of  which  were  cavalry,  and  two 
batteries  of  artillery. 

The  object  was  to  expel  the  Mexicans  and  In 
dians  from  New  Mexico.  When  the  American 
army  crossed  the  plains  and  learned  that  it  was 
to  be  confronted  at  Apache  Canon — the  natural 
approach  to  Santa  Fe — by  5,000  Mexicans,  it 
naturally  concluded  that  a  desperate  battle  was  at 
hand.  But,  strange  to  say,  their  advance  was 
unimpeded,  for  the  Mexicans,  on  learning  of  the 
approach  of  the  Americans  beat  a  hasty  retreat. 
The  conquest  of  New  Mexico  thus  far,  was  easy 
and  bloodless.  The  Mexican  army  was  disbanded 


IS 


16  WAR  WITH  THE  PUEBLOS. 

at  Santa  Fe,  and  the  northern  invaders  entered 
this  oldest  city  in  the  United  States  in  peace. 

Having  accomplished  its  mission,  for  the  most 
part,  this  little  army  of  1,700  men,  divided  up  for 
the  purpose  of  conquering  further  empires.  Kear 
ney  started  with  300  men  for  California,  and 
Colonel  Doniphan  marched  with  850  men  for  the 
conquest  of  Chihuahua.  The  result  of  this  last 
expedition  was  a  battle  at  Bracito,  with  an  army 
of  1,200  Mexicans,  in  which  the  latter  were  com 
pletely  routed. 

Before  Kearney  left  for  the  west,  he  organized 
a  provisional  government  for  the  Territory  with 
Charles  Bent  as  Governor.  He  was  the  builder 
and  occupant  of  Bent's  fort  on  the  Arkansas.  It 
was  a  strong  fort,  and  Bent  was  a  man  of  great 
courage  and  large  experience  with  the  rough  and 
ready  ways  of  the  frontier.  There  were,  as  yet, 
but  few  Americans  in  his  jurisdiction.  The 
people  were  mostly  Mexicans,  Pueblo  Indians  and 
wild  Indians.  The  wild  Indians  had  been  friendly 
to  the  Americans,  because  the  Mexicans  were  in 
control,  but  now  that  the  Americans  were  in  con 
trol,  they  had,  according  to  Indian  nature  become 
hostile.  The  Mexicans,  who  remained  were  of 
very  little  account,  except  as  disturbers  of  the 
peace,  for  they  were  of  that  class  which  had  done 
service  as  peons  for  the  grandees  who  had  fled. 


WAR  WITH  THE  PUEBLOS.  17 

The  Pueblo  Indians  were  the  most  numerous, 
intelligent  and  reliable  of  the  three.  They 
embraced  a  number  of  tribes,  of  very  ancient 
origin,  akin  to  each  other  in  speech  and  habit, 
far  advanced  in  intelligence,  somewhat  Christian 
ized  by  the  Catholic  church,  given  to  agriculture 
and  art,  and  resident  for  the  most  part  in  perma 
nent  towns — whence  their  name,  Pueblo. 

At  the  time  of  our  conquest  of  New  Mexico, 
they  inhabited  some  twenty-six  towns,  some  of 
which  were  in  Arizona,  occupied  by  the  Moquis, 
or  "  death"  portion,  and  by  the  Zuni  portion,  also 
in  Arizona,  the  remaining  portions  being  in  the 
Rio  Grande  Valley.  In  all  respects  they  are  a 
most  interesting  people,  having  a  history,  run 
ning  back  in  accurate  chapters  to  the  Spanish 
Conquest,  and  traditions  that  connect  them  with 
the  ancient  Aztec  races  of  the  Pacific  slope.  That 
they  had  been  a  high  grade  people,  is  shown  by 
the  remains  of  art  in  their  country.  Some  of  the 
most  remarkable  ruins  of  pottery  ovens,  house 
architecture  and  irrigating  appliances  in  the 
country,  one  found  in  their  midst.  The  outlines 
of  many  ancient  towns  are  yet  distinct,  and  it  is 
clear  that  they  possessed  the  art  of  both  weaving 
and  writing. 

Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  Pueblos 
ranked  as  an  honest,  brave,  sober,  intelligent  and 


iS  WAR  WITH  THE  PUEBLOS. 

industrious    people,  to  whose  forefathers  we  are 
willing  to  attribute  a  high  civilization  and  the 
origin  of  the  hyeroglyphics,  the  cave  dwellings, 
the  many  wonderful  ruins  of  art  and  architecture 
found  in  the  valleys  and  canons  from  the  Rio 
Grande  to  the  Mohave  Desert,  they  were  never 
theless  true  to  their  Indian  origin  in  the  respect 
that  as  soon  as  the  American  troops  left  Santa 
Fe  for  other  points  they  began  to  conspire  to  take 
advantage  of  a  weakened  situation.     They  found 
ample     encouragement     in     the      disappointed 
Mexican  leaders  who  added  recklessness  to  their 
discomfiture.     An     uprising    was     planned    for 
December  of  the  year  1846,  and  its  object  was  to 
murder  or  dispel   every  American  and   friendly 
Indian  found  in  the  newly  created  department. 
The  signals    tor  the  uprising  had   been  agreed 
upon  and  were  ready,  but  as  fortune  would  have 
it,  the  plot  was  revealed  three  days  in  advance  of 
the  time  set.     Many  of  the  ringleaders  were  ar 
rested,  and  there  was  a  general   stampede  of  the 
rest  to  Mexico.     Governor  Bent  issued  a  pacify 
ing  proclamation,  which  tided  over  the  excite 
ment,  but  insurrection  smoldered  for  only  a  time. 
In  January  1847,  tne  Pueblos  rose  in  a  body  and 
demanded  the  release  of  certain  of  their  number 
retained  as  prisoners.     Their  demand  was  un 
heeded,    whereupon   they   made    an   attack   and 


WAR  WITH  THE  PUEBLOS.  19 

killed  the  sheriff  and  his  assistants.  Their  suc 
cess  met  with  encouragement  at  the  hands  of 
several  of  the  original  conspirators,  and  they  in 
vested  the  home  of  Governor  Bent.  His  wife 
warned  him  of  his  danger.  Seeing  the  futility 
of  contending  with  so  numerous  and  bloodthirsty 
a  host,  he  called  for  assistance  from  the  neighbors 
who  were  mostly  Mexicans.  They  refused  him 
aid  and  almost  mockingly  told  him  that  he  might 
as  well  make  up  his  mind  to  die.  Meanwhile  he 
had  received  two  wounds  from  the  arrows  of  the 
Pueblos.  Retreating  to  his  room,  his  wife  brought 
him  his  pistols  and  asked  him  to  avenge  himself, 
even  if  he  must  die.  He  declined  to  use  them 
saying,  "  I  will  kill  no  one  of  them,  for  your 
sake  and  for  that  of  my  children.  My  death  is 
all  these  infatuated  and  cruel  people  ask  at 
present." 

The  savages  had  already  torn  the  roof  off  the 
house  and  began  pouring  into  his  room.  He  ap 
pealed  to  their  manhood  and  honor,  but  in  vain. 
a  IJvery  American  in  New  Mexico  should  die!" 
they  exclaimed,  "  and  you  shall  go  with  them." 
An  arrow  followed  their  bloody  resolve,  then  an 
other  and  another,  but  the  method  was  not  swift 
enough.  A  bullet  sped  through  his  heart  and  as 
he  fell,  a  chief,  L  tapping  forward,  snatched  one  of 
his  pistols  and  shot  him  in  the  face.  Then  they 


ao  WAR  WITH  THE  PUEBLOS. 

took  his  scalp,  and  stretching  it  on  a  board  with 
brass  nails,  carried  it  through  the  streets  in  tri 
umph.  After  this,  the  Indians  running  wild 
with  excitement,  carried  their  massacre  into  every 
house  whose  occupant  was  an  American.  All  of 
the  leading  officials  perished  or  made  their  escape 
with  difficulty.  Whole  families  were  extermina 
ted.  The  priests,  who  were  partly  blamed  for  in 
citing  the  insurrection  had  to  intercede  to  stay  its 
cruelty. 

Word  of  the  insurrection  spread  among  the 
Indian  tribes  and  the  uprising  became  general. 
Word  also  was  carried  to  Sante  Fe,  and  the 
Americans  rallied  for  resistance.  Traveling 
parties  were  captured  and  shot  by  the  Indians, 
settlements  were  attacked  and  broken  up  ;  guards 
were  driven  away  from  the  cattle  ranches  and  the 
cattle  were  stampeded  and  driven  off.  At  length 
the  hostiles  surrounded  the  strong  corral  at  Tur- 
ley's  mill.  The  owner  was  a  conspicuous  man 
in  the  Territory,  and  stood  well  with  the  Indians. 
He  had  a  strong  band  of  help  about  him,  who  on 
the  approach  of  the  Indians  hastened  within  the 
corral  and  prepared  for  defence.  The  Indians 
closed  in  upon  the  place  and  offered  to  spare 
Turley's  life,  but  said  they  had  killed  the  Gov 
ernor  at  Fernandez,  and  that  every  American  in 
the  Territory  must  die.  Turley  defied  them. 


WAR  WITH  THE  PUEBLOS.  il 

The  Indians  then  began  the  attack  under  cover 
of  the  rocks  and  bushes.  The  defenders  made  a 
loop  hole  of  every  window  in  the  mill  and  laid 
many  an  Indian  low  with  their  bullets.  All  day 
the  siege  was  maintained,  and  at  nightfall  firing 
ceased,  but  the  hostiles  crept  closer  under  cover  of 
darkness.  They  originally  numbered  500,  and 
now  their  strength  was  being  increased  by  new 
accessions.  In  the  morning  hostilities  began 
again,  and  with  increased  determination  on  the 
part  of  the  Indians.  They  got  a  foothold  within 
the  corral,  where  scores  of  them,  including  one  of 
their  most  popular  chiefs,  fell  victims  to  the  bul 
lets  of  the  defenders.  Bafned  o'er  and  o'er  again 
by  the  bravery  of  the  besieged,  the  Indians  re 
newed  every  attack  more  desperately,  only  to 
find  their  numbers  reduced  by  the  unerring  aim 
of  the  defenders.  Finally  the  Indians  got  close 
enough  to  fire  the  mill.  The  flames  were  extin 
guished  only  to  break  out  again.  Ammunition 
was  running  low.  The  defenders  gave  up  hope, 
but  resolved  to  hold  on  until  night,  and  then  try 
to  escape,  each  one  striking  out  for  himself.  This 
they  did,  but  in  the  effort  to  pierce  the  cordon 
about  them  all  fell  victims  except  two,  who  man 
aged  to  reach  Santa  Fe  as  bearers  of  the  horrid 
news. 


22  WAR  WITH  THE  PUEBLOS. 

On  their  arrival  Col.  Price  started  immediately 
with  his  command  of  350  infantry  and  four 
howitzers  for  the  scene.  His  force  was  aug 
mented  by  a  company  of  volunteers,  who  com 
prised  the  indignant  citizens  of  Sante  Fe.  They 
hastened  to  Taos,  where  they  met  the  hostiles 
under  the  lead  of  a  Mexican  officer,  and  battle 
was  at  once  joined.  It  was  but  a  brief  fight  for 
the  enemy  was  quickly  dislodged  from  its  strong 
hold  by  the  howitzers,  and  then  thrown  into 
confused  retreat  by  a  splendid  charge  on  the  part 
of  the  Americans.  They  left  32  dead  on  the 
field  together  with  the  usual  compliment  of 
wounded. 

Col.  Price  now  received  reinforcements,  and 
with  an  army  of  500  pushed  on  to  the  canon  of 
Embudo,  where  the  enemy  were  posted  in  force. 
They  were  in  a  strong  position,  but  were  charged 
upon  and  driven  out  with  considerable  loss. 
Thence  they  retreated  up  the  valley  to  a  strong 
pueblo,  and  there  was  nothing  to  do  for  the 
American  army  but  to  follow.  The  pursuit 
involved  great  hardship,  for  a  deep  snow  had 
fallen  and  many  officers  and  soldiers  perished  by 
being  frozen,  or  through  colds  contracted  by 
sleeping  without  tents  or  blankets.  At  the 
pueblo  they  found  the  enemy  strongly  fortified. 
The  village  was  surrounded  by  thick  adobe  walls, 


WAR  WITH  THE  PUEBLOS.  23 

at  whose  corners  rose  high  bulwarks  capable  of 
sheltering  800  men.  Every  point  of  the  wall  was 
pierced  for  rifles,  and  every  point  without  was 
flanked  by  projecting  angles. 

It  would  not  do  to  rush  indiscriminately  upon 
such  a  stronghold.  The  army  was  carefully 
deployed,  and  positions  were  chosen  for  the  artil 
lery.  For  two  hours  the  batteries  played  on  a 
corner  of  the  fortification,  but  without  effect. 
Then  there  was  a  wait  over  night  for  further  am 
munition.  During  this  time  a  plan  of  attack  was 
matured.  The  village  was  surrounded  on  three 
sides  ;  on  the  east  and  west  by  troops,  on  the 
north  by  the  artillery.  The  artillery  was  to  play 
till  it  made  a  breach  in  the  walls,  but  it  proved 
ineffective  for  this  purpose.  The  troops  on  the 
other  sides  were  then  commanded  to  close  and 
charge.  They  scaled  the  walls  by  means  of 
ladders,  fired  the  roofs  of  the  buildings,  cut  holes 
through  walls,  threw  in  lighted  shells  and  fought 
desperately  for  the  vantage.  Meanwhile,  the 
artillery  was  busy  landing  shot  and  shell  into 
the  inclosure  and  distracting  the  attention  of  the  • 
enemy.  Venturesome  as  was  the  attack  of  the 
Americans,  they  found  no  such  resistance  as 
they  anticipated,  for  the  enemy  was  never  given 
a  moment  to  concentrate  its  fire.  It  was  driven 
by  slow  degrees  into  the  church  building  in  a 


24  WAR  WITH  THE  PUEBLOS. 

^ 

corner  of  the  pueblo,  where  it  made  its  last  des 
perate  stand.  A  breach  had  been  made  in  the 
outer  walls  through  which  a  cannon  was  run. 
This  was  turned  on  the  church  and  in  ten  rounds 
the  walls  began  to  crumble.  Pioneers  were  form 
ed  who  rushed  into  the  church  with  axes  and  be 
gan  to  batter  down  the  doors.  The  Indians  broke 
and  fied  to  other  portions  of  the  pueblo.  Those 
who  tried  to  escape  to  the  mountains  were  shot 
down  by  the  troops  stationed  without,  those  who 
gained  cover  within  the  pueblo  were  searched  out 
and  given  no  quarter.  Chiefs  fell  who  wore  the 
clothing  of  white  men  killed  at  Turley's  mill. 
One  was  slain  who  was  dressed  in  the  coat  of 
Governor  Bent.  Altogether  150  of  the  insur. 
gents  were  slain  and  twice  that  many  wounded 
out  of  a  total  of  650.  On  the  morning  after  the 
battle  a  delegation  of  men  and  women  came  to 
Colonel  Price  bearing  crucifixes  and  images,  and 
begged  mercy  on  their  knees.  It  was  granted 
on  condition  that  the  ringleaders  should  be  sur 
rendered  for  trial  under  the  law. 

The  conditions  were  accepted,  and  the  culprits 
were  taken  into  custody  by  the  army.  Many  of 
them  were  Mexican  desperadoes,  who  had  incited 
the  Indians  to  rebellion.  Scores  of  them  were 
tried  and  convicted.  Fourteen  of  them  were 
executed  and  the  rest  were  pardoned  on  condition 


WAR  WITH  THE  PUEBLOS.  25 

of  future  good  behavior.  The  victory  of  our  army 
was  complete.  On  no  occasion  since  have  the 
Pueblos  turned  against  the  United  States  Gov 
ernment.  Their  chastisement  was  sufficient  for 
all  time.  Since  then  they  have  departed  from 
the  Mexican  traditions  and  remitted  much  of 
their  savagery.  Most  of  them  have  drifted  into 
citizenship,  and  have  yielded  to  missionary  enter 
prise.  In  1874  the  Government  had  its  last  dif 
ficulty  with  them,  which  was  largely  a  religious 
affair,  and  was  peaceably  adjusted. 


CHAPTER  II. 
THE  SHOSHONE  UPRISING. 

THE  great  Shoshone  stock  of  Indians  origin 
ally  embraced  the  most  powerful  tribes 
of  the  extreme  Northwest,  grouped  into 
families  according  to  the  topography  of  the 
country.  The  Modocs,  Bannocks,  Snakes,  Utes, 
Kiowas  and  Comanches  are  of  Shoshone  origin. 
Akin  to  them  also  were  the  three  families  of 
tribes  which  extend  from  the  Blue  Mountains  of 
Oregon  to  the  Canadian  border.  The  northern 
most  of  these  families  is  the  Selish,  to  which 
belong  the  Flatheads  and  Coeur  D'  Alenes. 
South  of  them  is  the  Saptin  family,  embracing 
the  Nez  Perces,  Walla- Wallas,  Klickitats,  Yaki- 
mas  and  Pelouse.  Below  the  Columbia  River 
are  the  Wailatpu,  Cay  uses  and  Moleles.  The 
Spokanes  are  found  on  the  Spokane  branch  of 
Clark's  Fork. 

In  early  days,  the  emigrant  road  through  the 
Grand  Ronde,  over  the  Blue  Mountains  and 
down  the  Walla- Walla  to  the  Columbia,  opened 
up  what  was  regarded  as  a  fine  field  for  mission- 


THE  SHOSHONB  UPRISING.  27 

ary  enterprise,  and  a  large  and  prosperous  mis 
sion  station  was  started  at  Wailatpu,  for  the  pur 
pose  of  civilizing  and  christianizing  the  Wailat- 
pus  and  Cayuses.  Another  mission  of  similar 
proportions  sprang  up  on  the  Lapwai,  at  its  junc 
tion  with  the  Clear  Water,  which  was  a  centre  of 
evangelical  influence  with  the  Nez  Perces.  Still 
another  came  into  being  near  the  Spokane  River, 
far  to  the  north.  Down  the  Columbia,  at  the 
Dalles,  and  again  in  the  Williamette,  were  other 
missions,  mostly  under  Methodist  auspices. 

The  climate  and  soil  were  inviting.  Mission 
ary  work  went  bravely  on  among  tribes,  which 
seemed  kindly  disposed  and  amenable.  The 
missions  became  quite  independent  little  settle 
ments,  with  mills,  shops,  schools,  churches,  farms 
and  a  sufficient  number  of  people  to  constitute  a 
society.  But  there  was  one  misfortune  attending 
settlement  and  missionary  enterprise  in  this 
region.  The  old  and  powerful  Hudson  Bay 
Company  had  a  fortified  trading  post  at  Wallula, 
the  mouth  of  the  Walla- Walla.  The  headquar 
ters  of  said  company  was  further  down,  at  Fort 
Vancouver.  The  officers  of  this  company 
had  favored  missionary  enterprise  from  the 
States,  and  the  presence  of  its  strong  and  well 
fortified  trading  ports  was  regarded  as  a  means 
of  safety  for  the  remote  missionary  stations. 


28  THE  SHOSHONE  UPRISING. 

This  Company,  however,  came  to  represent 
England  in  her  designs  upon  onr  Northern  fron 
tier.  Those  designs  were  to  push  the  Canadian 
borders  down  so  as  to  embrace  a  control  of  the 
Columbia  River.  The  company  officials  made 
overtures  to  the  missionaries  and  settlers,  which 
had  to  be  rejected  on  both  moral  and  patriotic 
grounds.  These  officials  then  began  to  antago 
nize  settlement  and  to  corrupt  the  natives.  They 
sold  the  Indians  rum,  guns  and  ammunition,  on 
the  plea  that  it  made  their  hunting  more  success 
ful.  They  opposed  agriculture,  lest  it  diminish 
the  Company's  food  supply.  When  it  became 
manifest  that  the  Americans  were  up  to  their 
game,  and  were  forcing  a  settlement  of  the 
country,  the  Company  fought  every  step  of  north 
ward  progress.  It  opposed  cattle  company  and 
saw  mill,  with  rivals,  and  at  last  went  so  far  as 
to  warn  intruders  from  lands  it  claimed  by 
virtue  of  no  title  at  all.  Emigrant  trains  were 
blockaded  at  Fort  Hall,  and  several  trains  were 
forced  to  deflect  southward  into  California.  Prob 
ably  the  worst  feature  of  the  Company's  opposi 
tion  was  that  it  acted  as  convoy  to  the  Jesuit 
Priests  who  were  bitter  against  the  Protestant 
missionaries  from  the  south. 

The  jealousy  and  bitterness  which  sprang  up 
between  the  Catholic  and  Protestant  missions 


THE  SHOSHONE  UPRISING.  29 

passed  to  the  Indians  in  intensified  form.  They 
became  restless  and  turbulent,  fit  subjects  for 
crime,  should  a  pretext  offer.  The  Jesuits  had 
decidedly  the  most  influence  over  the  Indians. 
Their  missions  were  encouraged  and  protected  by 
the  powerful  Company  at  their  back.  They 
could  use  its  employes  as  heralds  and  interpre 
ters.  They  were  in  stronger  force  than  the 
Protestants.  In  1847^  a  newly  appointed  Jesuit 
Bishop  of  Oregon  came  to  Walla- Walla  and  held 
a  conference  with  Ta-wai-tu,  a  Catholic  Cayuse 
chief.  It  was  given  out  that  the  object  of  the 
conference  was  to  devise  means  for  dispossess 
ing  the  Protestants  and  occupying  the  sites  of 
their  missions.  At  any  rate,  the  Bishop  took 
up  permanent  quarters  at  Minatilla,  in  a  house 
offered  by  Ta-wai-tu,  twenty-five  miles  south  of 
Wailatpu,  and  in  the  rear  of  the  flourishing  mis 
sion  there.  This  was  on  November  27,  1847. 
On  November  29,  while  the  mill  at  Wailatpu  was 
running,  the  school  in  session,  all  the  artisans  at 
their  trades,  and  the  missionaries  moving  about  in 
their  errands  of  mercy,  several  Indians  appeared 
upon  the  scene,  headed  by  Tamsaky,  who  sud 
denly  drew  a  tomahawk  from  beneath  his  blan 
ket  and  brained  the  venerable  Dr.  Whitman,  the 
head  of  the  mission. 


30  THE  SHOSHONE  UPRISING. 

In  an  instant  all  was  confusion  within  the 
mission  grounds.  The  striking  down  of  Dr. 
Whitman  was  the  signal  for  a  general  attack  by 
the  Indians,  who  now  appeared  in  all  parts  of  the 
grounds — at  the  mill,  the  shops,  the  chapel  and 
the  schools.  The  Indians  were  well  armed  with 
knives,  tomahawks,  pistols  and  Hudson  Bay  Com 
pany  muskets.  The  miller  fell  at  his  post,  bravely 
fighting.  The  tailor  and  carpenter  went  down  at 
their  benches.  The  teacher  made  a  brave  stand 
at  the  schoolroom,  bnt  was  soon  numbered  among 
the  victims.  The  frightened  children  fled  to 
the  loft  for  hiding,  but  were  soon  brought 
down  and  driven  into  a  huddled  mass  by  a  cor 
don  of  savages  who  held  them  trembling  prison 
ers  by  threats  of  shooting.  The  women  who 
had  fled  for  safety  to  tlie  central  mansion  and 
had  taken  refuge  in  the  tipper  stories,  were  or 
dered  down  in  order  that  the  house  might  be 
fired.  The  fate  of  most  of  them  was  more  horri 
ble  than  if  they  had  submitted  to  being  burned. 
Mrs.  Whitman  and  others  were  foully  murdered. 
Many  were  taken  prisoners  and  carried  away 
into  bondage.  A  few  managed  to  escape  slaugh 
ter  and  captivity  for  the  time  being  and  remained 
in  hiding  in  the  houses. 

Night  came  on  and  the  Indians  withdrew  to 
their  lodges,  after  finishing  their  plundering.  It 


THE  SHOSHONE  UPRISING.  31 

was  a  night  of  terror  for  the  few  survivors  at  the 
mission.  Under  cover  of  the  darkness,  one  man 
escaped  and  made  his  way  to  Lapwai.  The  Os- 
borne  family  escaped  and  reached  Walla- Walla. 
Several  fugitives  were  caught  the  next  day  and 
murdered.  The  young  girls,  daughters  of  teach 
ers  and  mechanics,  were  distributed  among  the 
braves  who  had  been  instrumental  in  the  murder 
of  their  parents.  The  destruction  of  the  mis 
sion  was  complete.  The  murder  of  its  numerous 
occupants  had  been  brought  about  in  the  most 
effective  way,  showing  clearly  the  existence  of  a 
well  matured  plot  on  the  part  of  the  Indians  and 
their  advisers. 

When  word  of  the  uprising  and  massacre 
reached  Oregon  City,  the  Governor  ordered  a  levy 
of  troops  and  in  twenty-four  hours  a  company  of 
forty-two  men  were  on  their  way  to  the  Dalles,, 
where  fugitives  from  all  the  missions  above  were, 
corning.  Here  the  troops  remained  for  the  pur 
pose  of  guarding  the  passage  of  fugitives  and  re 
stored  captives  to  safe  places  below,  while 
awaiting  re-inforcements,  till  February  1848. 
Being  re-inforced,  Captain  Lee  sent  a  scouting 
party  against  the  Des  Chutes,  the  nearest  of  the 
hostiles,  which  defeated  them  in  a  battle  on  Feb 
ruary  28.  The  main  body  of  160  troops  moved 
toward  Wailatpu,  near  which,  t&ey  met  a  strong 


32  THE  SHOSHONE  UPRISING. 

body  of  Indians.  A  desperate  battle  was  fought 
in  which  the  Indians  lost  20  warriors  and  40 
horses,  together  with  all  their  goods. 

As  the  troops  proceeded,  the  French  Canadian 
leader,  Finlay,  who  managed  the  massacre  at 
Wailatpn,  attempted  to  entrap  them  by  a  pretence 
of  peace.  He  had  about  500  Indians  at  his  dis 
posal,  and  the  Americans  could  only  advance  by 
keeping  close  in  line.  They  literally  fought  their 
way  to  Wailatpu,  where  they  established  a  fort 
and  called  on  the  adjoin  ing  tribes  to  come  in  fora 
talk.  The  Nez  Perces  and  most  of  the  Cayuses 
came  and  were  prompt  to  disavow  participation  in 
the  massacre.  Chief  Joseph,  of  the  Nez  Perces, 
promised  to  deliver  up  all  the  murderers  found  in 
his  tribe.  Those  who  remained  hostile  in  the 
neighboring  tribes  were  pursued  by  the  troops 
and  defeated  in  repeated  battles.  They  were 
finally  driven  into  the  neighboring  mountains 
and  back  into  the  Nez  Perces  country,  with  the 
loss  of  many  of  their  warriors  and  most  of  their 
cattle.  The  troops  remained  at  the  various  forts 
they  had  established  during  the  year  1848,  and 
the  tribes  of  the  murderers  were  forced  to  pursue 
a  wandering  life  in  the  mountain  gorges,  not  dar- 
to  return  to  their  homes.  This  state  of  affairs 
continued  during  1849  an(l  I^°-  In  the  latter 


THE  SHOSflOttE  UPRISING.  33 

year  they  purchased  peace  by  surrendering  five  of 
the  murderous  chiefs,  who  were  tried  and  hung. 
All  the  mission  houses  at  Wailatpu  were  burned 
by  the  Indians,  and  to-day  mounds  of  earth  mark 
their  site.  On  the  hillside  is  the  common  grave 
of  the  victims.  The  position  of  the  garden  is 
marked  by  a  few  fruit  trees  and  clusters  of  the 
flowers  planted  by  those  who  passed  away,  ere 
civilization  could  give  them  its  guarantees  of 
peace  and  safety. 


CHAPTER  III. 
WARS  WITH  THE  CALIFORNIA  TRIBES. 

I  I  /HILE  the  Oregon  volunteers  were  still  at 
^Jy  the  Dalles  in  defence  of  their  homes, 
gold  was  discovered  in  paying  quanti 
ties  at  Mormon  Island  and  in  Sutter's  mill  race 
in  California.  In  a  trice  all  California  was  mad, 
and  the  gold  craze  spread  all  over  the  United 
States.  A  flood  of  emigration  by  land  and  sea 
poured  into  the  gold  coasts  of  the  Pacific.  The 
year  1849  became  historic  and  the  forty-niner  a 
character  in  the  tragedy  and  comedy  of  the 
times. 

The  flood  of  emigration,  the  crush  of  enter 
prise,  the  selfishness  of  greed,  the  cruelty  of 
acquisition,  under  the  circumstances,  proved  to 
be  greater  evils  for  the  Indians  than  even  the 
discovery  of  Columbus  and  the  Spanish  occupa 
tion.  Gold  miners  had  no  patience  with  Indians. 
They  would  ransack  the  mountains  in  search  of 
claims.  They  would  kill  all  who  interfered  with 
their  supposed  rights.  The  Indian  knew  this, 
and  as  a  rule  "  vacated  the  ranche"  on  a  single 
warning.  If  he  stood  for  his  rights,  the  policy 
of  the  Government  was  to  get  rid  of  him  as 

34 


WARS  WITH  THE  CALIFORNIA  TRIBES.  35 

quickly  as  possible  by  buying  him  out,  so  as  to 
avoid  bloodshed. 

Generally  speaking  the  Indians  of  California 
were  not  fighters.  The  Yrekas  in  the  north 
were  brave  and  gave  much  trouble,  but  the  tribes 
to  the  south  lacked  union  and  spirit.  The  entire 
Indian  population  did  not  exceed  30,000,  of  whom 
not  over  half  were  classed  as  wild  Indians.  The 
first  clash  with  the  California  Indians  came  at 
Mormon  Island,  and  it  was  instigated  by  miners, 
who  perhaps  sought  an  occasion  to  teach  their 
hostile  neighbors  what  they  might  expect  if  they 
did  not  clear  the  way  for  exploration  and  occu 
pancy.  It  was  a  cruel  "  set-to"  which  resulted 
fatally  to  a  number  on  both  sides,  but  which  re 
sulted  in  impressing  the  Indians  with  the  con 
viction  that  the  vicinity  of  a  gold  mining  camp, 
was  the  least  desirable  place  in  the  world  for 
their  own  camps. 

As  miners  pushed  their  way  into  the  moun 
tains  and  mining  camps  became  thick  in  the 
gulches  and  valleys,  the  difficulties  with  the  In 
dians  increased.  Skirmishes  became  frequent, 
but  as  a  rule  the  Indians  were  marauders  and 
cattle  thieves,  rather  than  open,  organized  warri 
ors.  They  were  "pestiferous,"  as  the  ruining 
phrase  went,  and  in  this  respect  were  more 
objects  of  malice  than  if  they  had  been  regularly 


36  WARS  WITH  THE  CALIFORNIA  TRIBES. 

on  the  warpath.  The  Government  hearkened  to 
the  calls  for  aid  to  put  them  down.  It  could  not 
send  troops  so  far,  but  it  sent  100,000  arms. 
The  miners  quickly  formed  a  local  militia  and 
would,  no  doubt,  have  made  a  war  of  extermina 
tion  upon  the  Indians  of  the  Territory,  had  not 
the  Government  in  a  spirit  of  humanity,  hit  on 
the  plan  of  treating  with  them  and  giving  them 
a  place  on  reservations.  Most  of  the  tribes  took 
their  places  gladly  on  reservations,  but  some  of 
the  mountain  tribes  either  feared  to  come  in  or 
preferred  the  freedom  of  their  mountain  fast 
nesses. 

These  were  treated  as  hostiles,  and  the  impro 
vised  militia  of  California  quickly  made  war  upon 
them.  The  California  wars  of  1851-52  were 
chiefly  those  brought  about  by  efforts  to  catch 
these  hostiles  and  corral  them  on  reservations. 
The  hostiles  of  the  San  Joaquin  Valley  were 
hunted  down  and  brought  to  terms  by  the  cele 
brated  Mariposa  Battalion.  Jose  Rey,  chief  of  the 
Chowchillas,  was  defeated  in  several  engagements 
and  finally  lost  his  life  in  a  battle  which  deter 
mined  the  fate  of  his  tribe.  The  Yoseniites,  or 
"Grizzly  Bears,"  who  lived  in  the  wonderful 
canon  valley  which  perpetuates  their  name, 
were  brave  warriors  by  repute,  but  when  con 
fronted  by  the  militia  they  offered  little  resist- 


WARS  WITH  THE  CALIFORNIA  TRIBES.  37 

ance.       The   wars   in    and   around    Sacramento 
Valley  amounted  to  but  little  more  than  a  suc 
cession  of  skirmishes.      By  1853  the  California 
tribes  were  pretty  generally  subdued  and  driven 
on  to  the  five  reservations  set   apart  for   them. 
These  reservations  were  badly  managed  by  the 
Government  agents,  who  drew  plentiful  supplies 
from  the  Government  but  gave  the  Indians  none. 
The  consequence  was  the  reservations  fell  into  dis 
repute  and  were  practically  abandoned.     White 
settlers  took  mean  advantage  of  the  absence  of  the 
Indians,  the  latter  having  been   forced  into    a 
nomadic  life  and   having   become  more  thievish 
and  cowardly  than  ever  before.      Every  Indian 
theft,  every  attempt  on  their  part  to  scout  and 
live,  or  to  come  back  on  their  reservations  to   as 
sert  their  rights,  became  a  cause  for  war  upon 
them,  and  it  is  quite  probable  that  more  perished 
in  the  difficulties  which  thus  arose,  than  in  all 
the  prior  efforts    to   conquer   them.       Over    150 
Indians  were  massacred  by  the  white  settlers  at 
Nome  Cult  in  1858,  the  only   excuse  being  that 
they  had  driven  off  the  cattle  of  the  settlers  from 
the  reservation,  because  they  were  consuming  the 
acorns  on  which  the  Indians  depended  for  food. 
At  King's    River  the  Indians  were  shot  down 
by  scores,  and  driven  away   because  the  Govern 
ment  would  not  support  them  and  they  had  be 


38  WARS  WITH  THE  CALIFORNIA  TRIBES. 

come  a  nuisance.  In  these  humanitarian  efforts 
to  exterminate  the  natives,  the  settlers  had  the 
support  of  the  State  militia  and  there  was  no 
sentiment  against  this  kind  of  murder.  At 
Mattole  Station  and  Humboldt  Bay,  similar  mas 
sacres  took  place  and  there  was  no  mercy  shown 
to  a  refractory  Indian.  The  next  morning  after  the 
massacre  at  Humboldt  Bay,  sixty  corpses  of  In 
dian  men,  women,  boys  and  girls,  showed  how 
impious  had  been  their  refusal  to  go  off  to  the 
then  secluded  region  of  Mendocino. 

The  character  of  the  California  settlers,  gath 
ered  from  all  the  ends  of  the  earth,  inspired  by 
greed,  with  a  golden  stake  in  hand,  was  such  as 
to  make  the  Indian  wars  of  California  frequent, 
short  and  decisive.  They  were  wars  which  in 
volved  excessive  cruelty,  wars  of  extermination. 
The  miners  were  a  society  by  themselves,  and  a 
unit  in  their  own  protection.  There  was,  of 
course,  a  powerful  necessity  for  protection,  as  was 
shown  not  only  in  their  wars  with  Indians,  but  in 
those  stern  measures  which  became  the  code  of 
justice  of  their  "Vigilance  Committees."  They 
were  really  at  war  with  themselves,  and  peace 
and  the  reign  of  law  came  only  after  the  rope  had 
taught  many  of  their  own  number,  the  same 
lessons  their  shotguns  had  impressed  on  the 
Indians. 


CHAPTER  IV. 
A  YUMA  MASSACRE. 

THE  Indian  tribes  of  Arizona  and  the  line  of 
the  Colorado  River,  have. ever  been  an  in 
teresting    study.     Two    large   nations,   of 
which  the  Yuma  is  one,  were  agricultural 
and   peaceful.     They  came  early  under  the   in 
fluence  of  the  Spanish,  and  proved  useful  as  a 
bulwark  against  the  fierce  and  powerful  Apaches. 
But  there  were  blendings  of  these  tribes  with  the 
bolder  and  wilder  Apaches,  with  the  result  that 
many  degraded  tribes  arose,  which  possessed  the 
virtues  of  neither,  but  for  whose  actions  one  or 
the  other  of  the  leading  tribes  had  to  be  responsi 
ble.     Thus  a  dangerous   and  freebooting   tribe, 
called  Toiitos,    was  allied  by  birth  to  both  the 
Yumas  and  Apaches,  and  if  they  committed  an 
outrage,  it  was  either  a  Yuma  or  Apache  outrage, 
according  to  the  interest  either  had  in  it,  or  the 
apology  offered  for  it. 

As  a  rule  these  tribes,  excepting  the  dreaded 
Apaches,  succumbed  to  the  authority  of  the 
United  States,  after  the  Mexican  Conquest  and 

39 


40  A  YUMA  MASSACRE. 

the  Gadsden  purchase,  without  open  war.  So 
that  while  there  are  no  startling  records  of  hostili 
ties  in  their  midst,  there  are  several  thrilling 
accounts  of  massacres.  The  one  which  led  to 
the  complete  subjugation  of  the  Arizona  tribes, 
always  excepting  the  Apaches,  is  a  sample  of 
many.  In  1850  a  party  composed  of  eighty  em 
igrants,  men,  women  and  children,  started  for 
Arizona,  intending  to  locate  within  the  protective 
range  of  Ft.  Yuma,  then  a  military  camp  at  the 
junction  of  the  Gila  with  the  Colorado. 

By  the  time  this  party  reached  the  junction  of 
the  north  and  south  roads  near  Santa  Fe,  they 
became  so  divided  by  religious  dissensions  that 
they  split ;  one  faction  taking  the  northern,  the 
other  the  southern  route.  By  the  close  of  the 
year  the  southern  party  reached  Tucson,  where 
they  were  gladly  received  by  the  Mexican  citizens, 
who  were  greatly  alarmed  at  the  excesses  of 
the  Apaches.  A  part  of  the  party  agreed  to 
settle  there  temporarily.  The  rest,  embracing 
three  families,  the  largest  of  which  was  the  Oat- 
man  family,  started  on  across  the  "  ninety  mile 
desert."  After  many  escapes  from  roving 
Apache  bands  they  reached  the  country  of  the 
Pimas,  where  they  found  rest.  The  Pimas  had, 
however,  but  little  food  for  strangers,  and  the 
Oatman  family,  in  a  spirit  of  desperation  started 


A  YUMA  MASSACRE.  41 

alone  for  Ft.  Yuma.  After  crossing  the  desert  of 
Gila  Bend  and  striking  the  Gila,  the  roads  became 
almost  impassable. 

On  a  certain  day,  while  struggling  with  their 
difficult  situation,  unloading  their  wagon  at  the 
foot  of  steep  hills  and  carrying  their  goods  upon 
their  shoulders,  so  that  their  starved  oxen  might 
be  able  to  take  the  empty  wagon  up,  they  saw 
evidences  of  Indians  about  them.  The  next  day 
as  they  broke  camp,  at  the  head  of  a  little  valley 
of  the  Gila  which  is  to  this  day  known  as  Oat- 
man  Flat,  they  were  suddenly  surrounded  by  a 
troop  of  Tonto  Indians  armed  with  bows  and 
arrows  and  clubs.  Knowing  that  a  show  of  fear 
would  be  fatal,  Oatman  assured  his  family  and 
coolly  asked  the  miscreants  to  sit  down  for  a  talk. 
He  passed  pipes  and  tobacco,  and  each  one  took 
a  whiff  of  amity.  The  Oatman  family,  mean 
while,  kept  up  their  preparations  for  the  onward 
march  as  if  unconcerned  about  results.  This 
gave  the  Indians  opportunity  to  gauge  the 
strength  of  the  party.  They  asked  for  food. 
Oatman  told  them  he  had  barely  enough  to  sus 
tain  his  family  till  it  reached  Ft.  Yuma.  They 
did  not  accept  his  excuse,  but  grew  clamorous 
and  angry.  In  order  to  appease  them  Oatman 
divided  his  little  store  with  them.  They  demanded 


42  A  YUMA  MASSACRE. 

more,  which  Oatman  refused,  not  wishing  to  rob 
his  family  entirely. 

The  Indians  drew  off,  held  a  hurried  consulta 
tion,  scanned  the  horizon  to  see  that  no  help  was 
near,  and  then  with  wild  yells  rushed  upon  the 
helpless  family  with  their  merciless  clubs. 
Oatman  was  beaten  to  the  ground  and  his  skull 
crushed  by  repeated  blows  of  the  clubs.  His 
son,  Lorenzo,  a  boy  of  twelve  years,  received 
repeated  blows  which  rendered  him  insensible. 
Mrs.  Oatman  leaped  from  the  wagon  and  clasped 
her  youngest  child,  a  boy  of  two  years,  to  her 
bosom.  The  savages  dashed  upon  her  and  beat 
out  the  life  of  mother  and  child  together.  The 
daughter  Lucy  was  beaten  into  a  shapeless  mass 
and  left  an  unrecognizable  corpse  on  the  bloody 
soil.  Another  daughter  of  four  years,  was  simi 
larly  dispatched.  A  brother  of  six  years,  was 
the  next  to  fall.  Two  daughters,  Olive  and 
Mary,  were  spared  to  become  captives.  After 
the  massacre  was  complete,  the  camp  was  plun 
dered.  Seeing  signs  of  life  in  the  prostrate 
Lorenzo,  the  miscreants  stripped  him  of  his 
clothing  and  threw  his  body  down  over  a  pile 
of  rugged  rocks.  It  rolled  helpless  on  to  plat 
form  at  the  base,  full  twenty  feet  below,  where  it 
lay  through  the  following  night  and  until  the 
next  day.  Then  consciousness  slowly  returned, 


A  YUMA  MASSACRE.  43 

He  opened  his  eyes  to  find  the  sun  shining  full 
in  his  face.  He  wiped  the  clotted  blood  from  his 
face,  felt  that  his  scalp  had  been  torn  off,  straight 
ened  his  crooked  and  stiffened  limbs,  and  gazed 
about  him  to  find  out  where  he  was.  The  blood 
stained  rocks  over  which  he  had  been  thrown 
told  him  how  he  had  come  there,  and  soon  the 
terrible  memory  of  the  day  before  rushed  in  on 
his  dazed  brain.  After  a  painful  struggle,  he 
gained  his  feet,  and  under  a  frenzied  impulse 
crawled  up  the  rocks  to  the  scene  of  the  massa 
cre.  The  broken  wagon,  the  remnants  of  goods 
strewn  around,  the  ghastly  faces  of  murdered 
parents,  brothers  and  sisters,  proved  to  be  too 
much  for  him.  He  sank  in  a  faint,  and  when  he 
recovered  his  only  thought  was  to  escape  a  repe 
tition  of  the  dreadful  sight.  He  dragged  his 
pain  racked  form  down  toward  the  Gila,  drank  of 
its  muddy  waters,  bathed  his  bruised  body  therein, 
and  then  crawled  away  to  a  cover,  where  he  passed 
a  day  and  night  in  sleep. 

Finding  himself  able  to  walk  with  the  aid  of  a 
stick,  but  being  yet  too  delirious  to  judge  of 
direction,  he  started  he  knew  not  whither.  By 
mid-day  he  reached  a  pool  of  warm  and  muddy 
water,  by  the  side  of  which  he  lay  down  and  drank, 
only  to  fall  asleep  again  in  the  sunshine.  This 
rest  gave  him  additional  strength  and  he  took  up 


44  A  YUMA  MASSACRE. 

his  journey,  still  ignorant  of  the  direction  but 
conscious  that  he  was  traversing  a  barren  table 
land.  By  nightfall  he  dropped  in  a  faint  from 
which  he  was  aroused  by  the  barking  and  growl 
ing  of  coyotes  around  him.  Starting  up  with  a 
yell  and  making  such  demonstration  as  he  could 
with  his  stick,  he  drove  the  hungry  beasts  back 
and  took  up  his  slow  and  painful  march.  To  his 
horror,  he  found  they  were  following  him.  He 
drove  them  off  with  stones,  but  could  not  escape 
the  horrid  thought  that  he  might  drop  down  any 
moment  through  sheer  exhaustion  and  thus  be 
come  a  prey  to  them. 

The  next  day  he  found  himself  in  the  midst  of 
a  lonely  canon,  and  -confronted  by  two  Indians, 
who  hastily  drew  their  bows  at  sight  of  him.  He 
raised  his  hand  in  surrender  and  spoke.  They 
proved  to  be  Pimas  and  friendly.  When  he  told 
them  of  the  massacre,  they  gave  him  some  food 
and  started  for  the  scene,  leaving  him  a  blanket 
to  sleep  on  and  telling  him  to  remain  there  till 
they  came  back.  He  did  not  know  how  long  they 
would  be  gone,  so  after  a  refreshing  sleep  and  a 
dread  on  awakening  that  they  might  prove  treach 
erous,  he  clambored  to  the  plain  above  and  started 
on  his  unknown  journey,  taking  rest  and  sleep 
wherever  a  guarded  spot  offered  itself.  One  morn 
ing  in  looking  across  the  plain  he  saw  objects 


A  YUMA  MASSACRE.  45 

moving*  They  were  rising  an  incline  and  when 
they  appeared  fully  in  view  on  top,  he  was  rejoiced 
to  find  that  they  were  wagons.  He  swooned 
through  joy,  and  when  he  came  to  consciousness, 
the  wagons  of  the  two  families  left  behind  in 
Tucson  were  standing  by  him.  He  was  refreshed 
with  bread  and  milk,  given  clothing  and  his 
wounds  were  dressed.  When  he  told  his  terrible 
story  his  friends  retraced  their  steps  to  the  Pimas, 
until  they  could  be  reinforced  by  other  emigrants. 
These  soon  came,  and  then  the  reinforced  party 
made  its  way  to  Fort  Yuma,  where  Lorenzo  was 
nursed  back  to  health. 

The  Indian  murderers  made  their  way  to  the 
north  of  the  Gila  with  their  white  captives,  Olive 
and  Mary  Oatman.  Their  journey  northward 
was  one  of  great  hardship.  They  were  treated 
with  savage  cruelty  and  reduced  to  the  condition 
of  slaves.  In  1851,  a  party  of  Mohaves  visited 
the  camp  of  the  captors,  and  became  the  purchasers 
of  the  captives.  Their  condition  was  now  much 
bettered,  though  they  were  still  slaves.  In  a 
short  while  death  came  to  Mary's  relief,  and  Olive 
was  left  to  bear  her  fate  alone  for  a  period  of  five 
years.  In  the  midst  of  her  despair  at  ever  being 
rescued  or  making  her  escape,  she  was  rejoiced 
one  morning  at  finding  a  Yuma  messenger  from 


46  A  YUMA  MASSACRE. 

the  Fort,  in  the  midst  of  the  tribe  and  with  a  de 
mand  for  her  release. 

The  rescue  came  about  through  Lorenzo. 
When  he  told  his  story  at  the  fort,  Colonel 
Heintzelman  sent  out  several  searching  parties 
in  vain.  Soon  after  his  forces  were  withdrawn, 
except  a  guard  for  the  ferry.  The  Yumas  drove 
this  guard  away  and  entered  into  a  conspiracy  to 
drive  all  Americans  out  of  Arizona  and  Southern 
California.  Colonel  Heintzelman  was  returned 
with  a  larger  force,  and  after  a  year  of  arduous 
and  exciting  work  succeeded  in  reducing  the  Yu 
mas  to  subjection  and  breaking  up  the  conspiracy. 
Meanwhile  Lorenzo  had  gone  to  California  and 
drifted  thence  to  Los  Angeles.  Here  he  learned 
that  his  sisters  had  been  bought  by  the  Mohaves, 
and  he  tried  to  interest  the  authorities  in  their 
rescue.  This  was  in  1856.  One  man  at  Fort 
Yuma,  the  carpenter  there,  never  lost  his  interest 
in  the  captives.  He  had  as  a  bosom  friend  one 
Francisco,  an  Indian,  who  knew  the  terrorism  in 
spired  in  his  race  by  the  show  of  power  which 
Heiiitzelman's  troopers  had  made.  The  carpen 
ter  and  Francisco  talked  over  the  story  of  the 
"captives  as  Lorenzo  had  learned,  and  Francisco 
agreed  to  rescue  them,  if  the  commander  at  the 
Fort  would  give  him  some  goods  as  purchase 
money  and  agree  to  stand  by  him.  This  was 


A  YUMA  MASSACRE.  47 

brought  about  and  Francisco  started  on  his  peri 
lous  mission.  He  held  conference  after  confer 
ence  with  the  chiefs,  who  stubbornly  refused  to 
surrender  their  captive,  till  Francisco  made  known 
to  them  that  final  refusal  would  bring  upon 
them  the  full  force  of  the  United  States  troops, 
and  that  both .  Mohaves  and  Yumas  would  be 
wiped  from  the  face  of  the  earth. 

They  finally  yielded  to  his  arguments  and 
Olive,  after  recovering  from  a  faint  occasioned  by 
joy,  was  placed  in  charge  of  a  delegation  of  the 
tribe  which  was  authorized  to  deliver  her  in 
safety  at  the  Fort,  and  receive  the  additional  pres 
ents  promised  by  Francisco.  Her  arrival  was 
greeted  by  the  troops  with  cheers  and  firing  of 
"cannon.  Even  the  assembled  Yumas,  who  had 
been  trembling  lest  failure  to  make  the  rescue 
should  bring  on  their  heads  the  punishment 
threatened  by  Francisco,  joined  in  the  demonstra 
tions  of  joy. 

There  was  soon  a  more  affecting  meeting. 
Lorenzo  was  sent  for  to  come  to  the  Fort.  Ten 
days  of  hard  riding  brought  him  to  the  embrace  of 
his  long  lost  sister.  Tears  streamed  down  the* 
cheeks  of  the  sturdy  witnesses  of  a  meeting 
which  recalled  the  bloody  separation  of  five  years 
before,  and  th^  hardship  and  despair  of  every 
moment  since.  The  two  lived  in  California  for 


4$  A  YUMA  MASSACRE. 

some  years  and  then  went  east.  Francisco  was 
made  a  chief  by  the  Yumas,  at  the  instigation  of 
the  whites.  But  he  never  secured  their  confi 
dence,  and  could  not  prevent  the  Yuma  and 
Mohave  conspiracy,  in  1857,  against  the  Pimas 
and  Maricopas,  in  which  nearly  all  the  Yurna 
warriors  perished,  Francisco  himself  being 
among  them. 


CHAPTER  V. 
THE  ROGUE  RIVER  WARS. 

I  /HEN  Oregon  was  organized  as  a  Territory 
\Jy  in  1848,  General  Joe  Lane  was  made  Gov 
ernor.  Oregon  was  then  an  immense 
territory,  embracing  all  the  lands  west  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  north  of  42  degrees  of  latitude. 
Along  its  southern  border  were  several  tribes  of 
hostile  Indians — the  Rogue  Rivers,  the  Klamaths, 
the  Modocs,  the  Shastas  and  Umpquas.  None  of 
these  tribes  had  ever  been  friendly  to  the  whites. 
The  Umpquas  had  murdered  eleven  out  of  a  tra 
ding  party  of  fourteen  men  in  1834.  A  trading 
party  of  eight  were  attacked  by  the  Rogue  River 
Indians  in  1835,  an^  f°ur  of  them  killed.  The 
Klamaths  attacked  Fremont's  exploring  expedi 
tion  in  1845,  ail(l  killed  three  of  them  before 
Kit  Carson's  skill  could  baffle  the  onslaught  in 
a  hand  to  hand  conflict. 

In  1851,  the  Rogue  River  Indians  became  so 
bold  in  their  excursions,  and  these  had  become 
so  frequent  and  deadly,  that  the  Government 
was  compelled  to  intervene.  It  sent  Major  Phil. 
Kearney  to  the  scene,  with  a  detachment  of 


50  THE  ROGUE  RIVER  WARS. 

regulars.  After  manoeuvreing  for  some  time,  he 
succeeded  in  bringing  on  an  engagement  in 
which  he  administered  an  unmerciful  drubbing 
to  the  enemy.  But  this  was  not  sufficient.  They 
mustered  new  forces  and  courage,  and  stood  for 
a  second  attack.  This  time  Kearney  resolved 
that  the  lesson  of  defeat  should  be  effective.  He 
got  his  men  in  good  position,  kept  them  well  in 
hand  and  fought  them  so  determinedly,  that  the 
enemy  took  to  hasty  flight  toward  the  mountains, 
leaving  a  large  number  of  their  squaws  and 
papooses  in  the  hands  of  the  victors.  Governor 
Lane  made  the  return  of  the  captives  the  con 
ditions  of  a  peace  which  lasted  for  two  years. 

But  the  neighboring  tribes  were  not  so  easily 
pacified.  The  Pitt  River  tribe  massacred  the 
engineers  of  a  wagon  road  in  1852,  and  in 
the  same  year  the  Modocs  attacked  and  shot 
down  an  emigrant  party  of  thirty-three  persons. 
This  was  the  signal  for  open  hostilities,  and 
volunteer  companies  were  organized  and  ordered 
to  rendevous  at  Tule  Lake.  On  the  arrival  of  a 
California  company  a  bloody  battle  took  place, 
the  Indians  being  on  the  lake  in  their  canoes. 
They  fought  savagely  but  at  a  decided  disadvan 
tage,  and  were  soon  forced  to  retire  out  of  range 
of  the  riflemen  on  the  shore.  The  next  day  the 
victors  discovered  the  remains  of  many  murdered 


THE  ROGUE  RIVER.  WARS.  51 

emigrants  on  the  shores  of  the  Lake. 

Soon  the  California  force  was  augmented  by 
Oregon  companies,  and  together  they  held  the 
ground  for  many  months,  affording  protection 
to  emigrants  and  making  occasional  raids  on 
the  hostiles.  However  necessary  this  campaign 
may  have  been,  its  close  brought  no  credit  to  the 
white  soldiers.  It  is  narrated  that  Captain 
Wright,  who  commanded  the  California  forces, 
invited  the  Modoc  warriors  to  a  feast  at  which 
he  tried  to  poison  them.  Finding  his  ruse  a  fail 
ure  he  turned  the  feast  into  a  talk,  amid  which 
he  grew  angry  and  shot  down  two  of  his  guests 
with  his  revolver.  At  this  signal,  his  men  rose 
up  and  fired  their  freshly  loaded  rifles  into  the 
assemblage,  killing  thirty-six  outright..  The 
remainder  made  their  escape,  but  with  such 
memory  of  treachery  as  that  in  future  years, 
many  times  that  number  of  white  soldiers  had  to 
offer  their  lives  in  payment,  and  the  Government 
had  to  forfeit  millions  of  dollars  for  campaigning 
purposes. 

On  the  return  of  Captain  Wright  to  Yreka} 
he  was  welcomed  by  the  citizens,  but  his  venge 
ful  visitation  was  not  forgotten,  for  four  years 
afterwards  he  was  set  upon  by  the  Rogue  Rivers 
at  his  agency  and  killed,  together  with  23  of  his 


52  THE  ROGUE  RIVER  WARS. 

men.      His  bad  faith  bore   its    fruits    with  the 
entire  Modoc  people  for  years. 

In  California  and  Oregon,  in  those  days  the 
Government  did  not  recognize  the  right  of  the 
Indian  to  treat  for  the  sale  of  lands  or  for  a  reser 
vation.  The  whites  conld  squat  where  they 
pleased,  do  what  they  pleased,  provoke  war 
if  they  pleased  and  then  call  upon  the 
troops  for  protection.  As  a  rule  the  Oregon 
Indians  were  not  unfriendly.  The  Whitman  mas. 
sacre  was  almost  the  only  serious  demonstration 
of  hostility  they  had  made.  But  when  they  saw 
their  lands  taken  without  compensation  and  their 
treaties  nullified,  they  lost  confidence  and  became 
more  and  more  hostile.  The  Rogue  Rivers 
became  particularly  irritable  in  1853,  and  carried 
on  almost  constant  war  in  their  valley.  General 
Lane  was  sent  against  them  and  fought  a  doubt 
ful  battle  with  a  large  force  near  Table  Rock.  He 
secured  a  treaty  which  lasted  but  a  short  while, 
for  mutual  murders  soon  became  the  rule,  and 
massacre  followed  massacre  in  quick  succession. 
It  was  evident,  from  the  standpoint  of  the  whites, 
that  nothing  but  closely  organized  effort  would 
suffice  to  teach  the  Indians  the  lesson  they 
seemed  to  stand  in  need  of.  The  Indians,  on  the 
other  hand  having  a  common  grievance,  and 
being  actuated  by  a  common  dread  of  losing 


f  HE  ROGUE  RIVER  WARS.  53 

their  lands  altogether,  through  the  encroachment 
of  the  whites,  began  to  combine  their  strength. 
Leschi,  a  Nasqualla  chief,  preached  a  crnsade 
against  the  whites,  among  all  the  tribes  from  the 
British  borders  to  California,  and  infected  them 
all  with  his  hostility,  except  the  Nez  Perces. 

The  impatient  tribes  of  the  "North  opened  the 
contest  in  1855.  The  Yakimas  murdered  a  party 
interested  in  coal  mining  on  the  Dwamish.  The 
Indian  agent  at  the  Dalles  was  murdered  by  the 
same  tribe.  Two  forces  were  sent  against  them, 
to  be  united  in  their  country,  but  before  they 
could  unite,  one  of  them  was  set  upon,  and  driven 
back.  The  other  was  surrounded  in  a  disadvan 
tageous  position,  and  only  succeeded  in  escaping 
after  great  hardship.  A  stronger  force  of  350 
regulars  was  organized  and  sent  forward  under 
Major  Rains,  but  it  could  make  no  impression  on 
the  wily  foe. 

In  the  south,  the  whites  were  to -blame  for  pre 
cipitating  war  by  a  cowardly  attack  on  Old  Sam's 
band  of  friendly  Rogue  Rivers,  and  the  murder 
of  several  old  men  and  helpless  women  and 
children.  This  foolish  and  cruel  action  inflamed 
the  entire  tribe,  and  as  a  consequence  it  began  a 
campaign  of  indiscriminate  burnings  and  mur 
ders,  the  most  noted  of  which  was  the  "Wagoner 
massacre."  The  troops,  whether  regulars  or 


54  THE  ROGUE  RIVER  WARS. 

« 

militia,  retaliated  in  kind,  and  a  warfare  so  indis 
criminate  and  brutal  as  that  which  followed  has 
never  disgraced  our  annals.  This  was  equally 
true  in  the  south  and  in  the  north.  The  per 
vading  policy  on  the  part  of  the  whites  was  In 
dian  extermination,  now  and  forever.  The  wars 
of  1855  shed  no  lustre  on  the  arms  of  the  whites. 
They  only  served  to  force  the  Indians  into  closer 
union  and  inspire  them  with  a  burning  desire 
for  revenge. 

A  change  of  policy  came  under  General  Wool 
who  was  made  commander  of  the  Department 
of  the  Pacific.  He  did  not  believe  in  the  policy 
of  extermination,  nor  in  the  employment  of  State 
volunteers,  mostly  settlers,  who  had  their  private 
grievances  and  revenges.  He  concentrated  his 
army  of  regulars  at  Fort  Vancouver,  used  a  part 
of  them  for  the  protection  of  friendly  Indians 
against  white  aggressors,  and  disposed  the  re 
mainder  so  as  to  render  warfare  intelligent  and 
void  of  brutality.  But  the  State  volunteers  made 
campaigns  on  their  own  responsibility  and  with 
continued  loss  of  prestige.  The  bitterness  be 
tween  the  policies  of  extermination  and  of  civil 
ized  warfare  was  nearly  as  great  as  that  between 
the  red  and  white  foemen.  As  a  result  of  the 
clash  between  the  two  policies,  neither  regulars 


THE  ROGUE  RIVER  WARS.  55 

nor  volunteers  did  anything  of  importance,  while 
the  Indians  secured  several  successes. 

On  February  22d,  1856,  while  the  volunteers 
were  attending  a  "  Washington  Birthday  ball  " 
on  Rogue  River,  they  were  surprised,  and  Captain 
Wright  and  23  others  were  killed.  All  the  ranches 
on  the  river  were  sacked  and  burned.  Later  on, 
General  Wool  got  his  forces  in  hand.  He  passed 
the  Cascades  of  the  Columbia  on  his  way  to  the 
Dalles,  leaving  at  the  Middle  Cascades  a  small 
force.  Scarcely  had  he  passed,  when  the  Indians 
attacked  this  force,  protected  by  the  block  house 
there,  and  kept  up  an  unequal  battle  for  a 
day  and  a  night,  murdering,  meanwhile,  all  the 
citizens  they  found  in  exposed  places.  Word  of 
this  "Cascade  Massacre"  reached  Colonel  Wright, 
in  command  of  the  advanced  forces,  and  he  re 
turned  to  find  that  even  the  friendly  Cascade 
Indians  had  turned  against  the  whites  and  had 
induced  the  massacre.  The  leaders  were  tried  by 
court  martial  and  hung. 

Colonel  Wright  then  advanced  again,  leaving 
a  stronger  force  at  the  Cascades,  under  Lieuten 
ant  Phil.  Sheridan.  Colonel  Wright  soon  met  the 
hos tiles,  of  many  tribes  and  in  a  force  estimated 
at  1,200  warriors.  His  own  force  did  not  exceed 
475  effectives,  but  it  was  well  supplied  and  held 
a  position  which  cut  the  Indians  off  from  the 


56  THE  ROGUE  RIVER  WARS. 

river  and  the  lands  they  had  depended  on  for 
subsistance.  Neither  party  cared  to  risk  an  open 
engagement.  The  summer  passed  in  a  series  of 
parleys,  in  which  many  chiefs  surrendered  and 
agreed  to  live  in  peace. 

The  troops  in  the  south  were  pursuing  a  simi 
lar  policy,  though  with  a  more  pugnacious  foe. 
Chief  John's  band  of  Rogue  Rivers  surrounded 
Captain  Smith's  force  of  90  men,  supported  by  a 
howitzer,  and  would  have  compelled  their  sur 
render,  with  the  massacre  it  implied,  had  not  a 
timely  reinforcement  come  to  the  rescue  and 
dashed  into  the  besiegers,  routing  them  with 
heavy  loss.  All  the  while,  the  friendly  Indians 
were  being  gathered  on  to  reservations,  which 
began  to  grow  in  favor  as  an  asylum  for  such 
hostiles  as  were  tired  of  warfare.  John's  band 
surrendered  on  condition  that  it  should  escape 
punishment  and  be  given  a  place  on  a  reserva 
tion.  This  action  was  followed  by  a  surrender 
of  nearly  all  the  Lower  Rogue  Rivers  on  the 
same  terms.  The  northern  tribes  caught  the 
spirit  of  surrender  and  readily  found  places  on 
lands  dedicated  to  them  forever.  Military  sta 
tions  were  established  among  the  tribes,  each 
well  equipped  and  officered,  and  with  instructions 
to  deal  firmly  but  justly  with  all  within  their 
jurisdiction. 


THE  ROGUE  RIVER  WARS. 


S7 


By  1857  Peace  reigned  throughout  the  Oregon 
region,  and  more  had  been  accomplished  toward 
bringing  it  about  in  the  last  year  than  in  the 
two  years  before.  While  the  loss  of  life  had  not 
been  as  great  as  in  some  other  Indian  wars,  the 
destruction  of  property  had  been  enormous. 
Costly  as  it  had  been  to  the  settlers,  it  was  even 
more  so  to  the  Government. 


CHAPTER  VI. 
WAR  WITH  THE  CHEYENNES. 

5 HE  Arrapahoes  are  native  to  that  immense 
tract  east  of  the  mountains  and  between 
the   Platte   and   Arkansas     Rivers.     The 
Cheyennes  were  driven  into  the  same  region  from 
the  east  of  the  Mississippi  by  the  powerful  Sioux. 
The  Sioux  themselves  came  to  occupy  the  country 
north   of  the   Platte.     All   of   these   tribes   are 
strong  and  warlike.     They  are  made  up  of  sev 
eral  smaller  tribes,  the  Sioux  alone  embracing 
seven  families  or  tribes. 

From  the  earliest  days  of  settlement  west  of 
the  Mississippi  these  Indians  made  war  on  the 
whites.  In  1841  a  battle  between  trappers  and 
the  combined  warriors  of  the  Cheyennes  and 
Sioux  was  fought  on  Snake  River,  with  terrible 
loss  on  both  sides.  Fremont,  on  his  several  ex 
peditions,  found  them  hostile,  but  avoided  trouble 
by  threatening  them  with  the  vengeance  of  the 
u Great  Father"  in  case  they  molested  him.  In 
1845,  Colonel  Kearney  awed  them  into  good  be 
havior  by  an  ostentatious  parade  of  his^  dragoons 


WAR  WITH  THE  CHEYENNES.  59 

and  howitzers.  In  1847,  tne  Kiowas,  Apaches, 
Pawnees  and  Comanches  were  in  coalition 
against  the  whites.  They  asked  the  Cheyennes 
to  join,  but  they  were  intimidated  by  the  timely 
arrival  of  two  cavalry  companies  under  Colonel 
Gilpin. 

In  1854  a  coalition  was  formed  of  Cheyennes 
and  Arrapahoes,  and  war  broke  out,  begun  by  the 
Sioux.  The  first  engagement  was  with  Lieuten 
ant  Grattan  and  his  command  near  Fort  Laraniie. 
A  force  of  Brule-Sioux  warriors  under  their  chief, 
Bear,  were  fired  upon  by  Grattans's,  soldiers  who  in 
turn  were  exterminated.  The  Indians  menaced 
Fort  Laramie  for  a  few  days,  but  departed  on  the  ar 
rival  of  reinforcements  from  Fort  Riley;  Bear  was 
killed,  and  his  successor  was  Little  Thunder,  a 
daring  chief,  who  never  failed  to  strike  the  whites 
a  blow  when  opportunity  occurred.  He  destroyed 
several  mail  parties  and  killed  Captain  Gibson 
and  many  of  his  men.  In  1855,  General  Harney 
marched  from  Fort  Leavens  worth  with  1300  men 
to  the  scene  of  hostilities.  The  General  was  an 
uncompromising  Indian  hater  and  fighter,  and 
he  came  to  teach  them  a  lesson.  He  reached 
Fort  Kearney  in  safety,  and  continued  his  jour 
ney  to  Ash  Hollow,  where  he  learned  that  the 
B rules  were  encamped  in  force.  Harney  pre 
pared  for  an  attack.  He  sent  a  cavalry  force  to 


6o  WAR  WITH  THE  CHEYENNES. 

cut  off  the  rear  of  the  Indian  forces,  and  then  ad 
vanced  with  his  infantry.  When  Little  Thunder 
came  forward  to  parley,  Harney  received  him 
coldly.  Little  Thunder  returned  to  his  warriors, 
who  soon  discovered  that  their  retreat  was  cut  off. 
Amid  the  commotion  which  followed  this  discov 
ery,  Harney  ordered  his  infantry  to  advance  fir 
ing.  They  dashed  forward  with  wild  yells,  and 
mowed  down  the  Indians  as  they  rushed  onward. 
The  Indian  forces  could  not  withstand  the  furious 
onset  and  broke  fleeing  to  the  bluff,  leaving  be 
hind  all  their  traps.  The  cavalry  pursued  them 
and  kept  them  in  disastrous  flight  for  eight  or 
ten  miles,  killing  many.  The  Indian  losses  num 
bered  over  an  hundred,  many  of  whom  were  women 
and  children.  Their  loss  of  tents,  provisions, 
robes  and  utensils  was  total.  Such  a  blow  had 
never  been  struck  at  these  powerful  tribes  of  the 
plains  and  the  lesson  was  valuable.  They  sur 
rendered  the  murderers  they  were  harboring,  and 
agreed  to  be  peaceable  in  the  future.  Harney 
was  censured  for  killing  women  and  children,  but 
justified  himself  in  the  eyes  of  his  accusers,  and 
was  promoted  by  President  Buchanan. 

Though  this  blow  crushed  the  Sioux,  it  had  no 
effect  on  the  Cheyennes  and  Arrapahoes.  The 
Kansas  political  troubles  were  now  on,  and  the 
troops  were  needed  in  that  Territory  in  1856. 


WAR  WITH  THE  CHEYENNES.  6r 

Immunity  from  punishment  made  these  tribes 
bolder.  They  kept  up  constant  war  on  emigrants 
and  mail  parties.  At  length  a  company  under 
Captain  Stuart  met  a  marauding  force  near  Fort 
Kearney  and  defeated  it  with  heavy  loss.  This 
seemed  to  incite  the  Indians  to  worse  barbarities, 
and  attacks  and  murders  were  frequent  all  through 
1856.  In  1857  a  large  cavalry  force  under  Col 
onel  Sumner  was  sent  against  them.  He  came 
upon  a  force  of  300  Indians  in  the  Valley  of  Solo 
mon's  Fork,  and  immediately  charged  them. 
The  Indians  broke  and  fled,  but  escaped  after  a 
five-mile  chase,  owing  to  the  freshness  and  fleet- 
ness  of  their  ponies.  The  losses  on  either  side 
were  not  heavy,  but  the  effect  of  the  scare 
was  to  break  the  Indian  force  up  into  small  parties 
and  thus  prevent  danger  from  organized  action. 

There  was  comparative  quiet  in  the  Cheyenne 
and  Arrapahoe  region  for  two  or  three  years, 
when  the  Government  was  relieved  of  all  responsi 
bility  for  keeping  peace,  by  the  arrival  of  settlers. 
The  cry  of  gold  discovery  in  the  Rockies  brought 
thither  a  flood  of  adventurers,  similar  to  the  influx 
into  California  in  1849.  These  promiscuous  and 
rude  adventurers  commanded  a  respect  from  the 
Indians  which  the  Government  could  not  enforce. 
Inside  of  three  years,  there  were  80,000  whites  in 
the  Pike's  Peak  country,  far  too  many  to  fear  or- 


62  WAR  WITH  THE  CHEYENNES. 

ganized  war  on  the  part  of  the  Indians,  yet,  strange 
to  say,  of  a  kind  of  whom  the  Indians  never  com 
plained.  It  may  be  that  their  engagements  in  the 
past  with  the  forces  of  the  United  States,  had  im 
pressed  them  with  the  futility  of  contending 
against  skill  and  numbers,  but  it  is  more  than 
likely  that  geography  had  more  to  do  with  it  than 
force.  The  gold  hunters  occupied  the  region  which 
divided  the  mountain  tribes  from  those  of  the 
plain,  so  that  hostiles  on  either  side  sought  their 
friendship  and  thus  acquired  arms  and  ammuni 
tion  with  which  to  fight  each  other. 

In  1 86 1,  the  Cheyennes  and  Arrapahoes  made  a 
celebrated  treaty  with  the  Government  in  which 
they  gave  away  the  most  desirable  of  their  lands  to 
Colorado  settlers,  and  in  addition  the  right  of  the 
public  to  lay  out  roads  and  highways  across  their 
own  lands.  They  never  dreamed  that  they  had 
given  the  right  to  build  a  railroad  through  their 
country.  But  when  the  Kansas  Pacific  projectors 
began  to  invade  the  reserve  lands  with  its  rails,  a 
new  cause  of  hostility  was  found,  and  the  troubles 
of  1864  began. 


CHAPTER  VII. 
NAVAJO  HOSTILITIES. 

THE  Navajos  dwell  in  the  northwest  angle  of 
New  Mexico  and  the  northeast  angle  of 
Arizona.  They  were  ascribed  to  the  fierce 
Apaches  by  the  Spaniards,  but  are  really 
a  link  between  them  and  the  better  civilized 
Pueblos,  if  not  descendants  of  the  latter.  They  are 
a  well  proportioned,  finely  grown,  fair  counten 
anced  people,  who  dwell  in  grass  covered  huts, 
and  devote  themselves  to  pasturage  and  crude 
agriculture.  They  dress  better  than  the  average 
Indian  and  go  armed  with  lance  and  shield  very 
like  ancient  Grecians  or  Romans.  They  manufac 
ture  all  their  clothing  and  blankets,  and  the  latter 
are  a  wonder  for  beauty  of  design  and  artistic 
finish.  They  are  acquainted  with  the  smelting 
of  metals  and  the  production  of  pottery. 

In  war  they  do  not  scalp  an  enemy,  and  in 
taste  are  like  the  Jews  in  the  respect  that  they 
abhor  bear  and  hog  meat.  They  respect  their 
wives,  and  womankind  is  not  subject  to  drudgery 
as  with  other  Indians,  though  yoting  girls  unite 


64  NAVAJO  HOSTILITIES. 

the   part   of    shepherd   with   that   of    weaving. 
Their   only   god,    Whai-la-hay,   is    a  female,  to 
whom  their  knowledge  of  weaving  and  pottery 
is  due.     The  one  condition   of    salvation  is  that 
the  deceased  has   treated   his   wife   well.     They 
numbered  20,000  beings  when  their  territory  was 
acquired  by  the   United    States,  and  2,000  war 
riors.     They  had  no   government,  but  seemed  to 
be  an  aggregation  of  peaceful  families,  each   left 
to  do  as  it    pleased.       When    our    Government 
came  to  treat  with  them  it  found  nothing  to  treat 
with,  and  when  it  imposed  such  terms  as  seemed 
necessary  for  future  amicable  relations  there  was 
no  body  to  make   it   binding.       Moreover   they 
indulged  the  infatuation  that  they  were  superior 
in  numbers  to  the  white  race.      In  addition  they 
had  fought  Spaniards  and  Mexicans  for  centuries 
and  with  success.       Under   all  these  conditions 
it  was  easy  for  the  United   States  to  make  a  mis 
take  in  dealing  with  them.     This  mistake  it  did 
make  when  General   Kearney   assumed   that  in 
conquering  New  Mexico,  and   engaging  in  gen 
eral  stipulations  he  had   also    treated    with  the 
Navajos. 

While  a  detachment  of  our  troops  were  visit 
ing  the  Rio  Grande  region,  magnifying  their 
strength  and  sealing  treaties  with  a  show  of  force, 
they  were  suddenly  swooped  down  upon  by  the 


NAVAJO  HOSTILITIES.  65 

Navajos  and  deprived  of  all  their  cattle  and 
stores.  This  audacity  called  for  an  expedition 
against  them.  It  entered  their  country  in  two 
columns  and  forced  them  into  submission  with 
out  bloodshed ;  but  it  no  sooner  left  than  every 
Navajo  felt  at  liberty  to  do  as  he  pleased  again. 
In  1847  another  expedition  was  sent  against 
them,  but  it  did  not  even  succeed  in  making  a 
treaty.  In  1848,  another  was  sent  which  simply 
repeated  the  experience  of  the  first.  In  1849, 
a  fourth  expedition  was  fitted  out,  accompanied 
by  a  force  of  150  friendly  Navajos.  It  joined 
battle  with  the  hostiles  in  the  Canon  de  Chelly, 
the  result  of  which  was  the  death  of  a  leading 
chief  and  several  warriors.  A  treaty  was  made, 
but  it  proved  no  more  binding  than  former  ones. 
They  were  at  large  again  as  soon  as  force  failed 
to  confront  them. 

In  1852  Colonel  Sumner  marched  against 
them  and  built  Fort  Defiance  in  the  heart  of  their 
country.  This  was  a  master  stroke.  It  impressed 
them  with  the  resources  of  the  whites,  and  se 
cured  peace  for  two  years.  But  the  plundering 
habits  of  the  tribe  reasserted  themselves,  and 
they  grew  to  be  as  big  a  nuisance  as  ever.  The 
tribe  as  a  whole  was  not  to  blame,  for  having  no 
internal  government  it  could  not  restrain  its 
vicious  members,  as  its  better  portion  desired. 


66  NAVAJO  HOSTILITIES. 

Its  marauders  finally  grew  bold  enough  to  carry 
their  depredations  and  even  their  murders  to  the 
very  limits  of  the  Fort.  Having  gathered  about 
it  in  numbers,  they  were  attacked  by  the  troops 
under  Colonel  Miles  and  driven  off.  Colonel 
Miles  then  pursued  them  and  carried  consterna 
tion  through  the  Navajo  country.  He  was 
attacked  in  the  Canon  de  Chelly  by  Indians  on 
the  summits,  but  they  could  do  no  harm  with 
their  arrows.  At  the  mouth  of  the  canon  he  was 
met  by  Chief  Nak-risk-thaw-nee,  with  proposals 
of  peace.  The  answer  was,  "  no  peace  until  every 
Navajo  murderer  is  delivered  over  for  trial." 
The  troops  moved  on,  capturing  sheep  and  dev 
astating  corn-fields,  and  finally  returned  to  the 
Fort  loaded  with  booty.  It  was  thought  that  this 
devastating  warfare  would  prove  more  effective 
than  the  killing  of  the  foe.  But  they  were  pre 
pared  to  stand  it,  for  a  while  at  least. 

Soon  after  another  expediton  of  60  men  start 
ed  out  under  Captain  Hatch.  It  came  up  with 
the  Indians  under  Sarcillo  Largo  and  battle  was 
joined.  The  fighting  was  fierce  for  a  time  but 
finally  the  chief  fell  and  his  followers  fled,  leav 
ing  behind  six  dead  warriors  and  all  their  camp 
effects.  This  was  the  first  battle  in  which  the 
Navajos  were  known  to  use  firearms,  which  they 
handled  awkwardly.  The  Mormons  were  held 


NAVAJO  HOSTILITIES.  67 

responsible  for  having  furnished  them  with  these 
improved  weapons. 

Word  now  came  in  that  the  Navajos  had  been 
induced  by  the  Mormons  to  join  the  Pi-Utes  in  a 
war  of  extermination  against  the  Americans. 
Colonel  Miles,  therefore,  started  on  a  scout  with 
300  men,  and  on  the  first  day  came  on  a  body  of 
hostiles  which  he  dispersed,  capturing  their 
horses  and  sheep.  A  detachment  of  126  men 
was  sent  to  attack  Ka-ya-ta-na's  camp  in  a  canon 
fifteen  miles  distant.  They  charged  down  the 
steep  sides  of  the  canon,  stampeded  the  Indians, 
and  captured  20  horses  and  4000  sheep. 

It  was  now  clear  that  the  Navajos  could  not  be 
reduced  by  numbers,  for  no  numbers  could  be 
effective  in  their  broken  country.  The  hostiles 
could  not  be  brought  to  a  stand  and  they  were 
agile  in  escape.  But  they  were  usually  accom 
panied  by  their  herds  and  of  these  they  could  be 
deprived.  They  were  also  dependent  on  their 
fields  of  wheat  and  vegetables,  and  these  could 
be  destroyed.  So  it  was  determined  to  keep  up 
a  series  of  expeditions  against  them  and  give 
them  no  time  for  repose.  With  this  object  in  view 
Major  Brook  circled  through  their  country,  fight 
ing  often,  but  having  only  one  pitched  battle,  in 
which  the  Indians  lost  25  warriors.  In  return 
for  this  the  Navajos  attacked  the  front  herd  and 


68  NAVAJO  HOSTILITIES. 

succeeded  in  killing  two  men  and  running  away 
with.  64  horses  and  mules.  This  induced  Colonel 
Miles  to  start  with  260  soldiers  and  150  volun 
teer  Zuni  against  the  hostiles,  who  were  found 
and  attacked,  with  the  loss  of  few  men  and  the 
capture  of  250  horses.  A  similar  expedition 
under  Lieut.  Rowland  made  even  a  larger  cap 
ture. 

More  extensive  scouts  were  planned  and  ready 
to  start,  when  the  Navajos  sued  for  peace.  This 
kind  of  warfare  was  more  than  they  could  stand, 
they  could  not  be  ever  running  about  to  escape 
destruction,  while  their  flocks  and  means  of  sub- 
sistance  were  being  gradually  lost  to  them. 
Satisfactory  terms  were  agreed  npon  and  such  a 
peace  as  could  be  had  with  the  disjointed  Navajos 
was  ratified. 

This  peace  lasted,  with  unimportant  interrup 
tions,  till  1 86 1,  when  it  was  broken  by  the  fight 
at  Fort  Fauntleroy.  This  was  a  scrimmage 
between  the  soldiers  and  Indians  at  a  horse  race, 
at  which  animosities  were  engendered  which  led  to 
an  attack  by  the  soldiers  and  a  massacre  of  several 
Navajos,  including  their  women  and  children. 
When  it  was  seen  that  the  soldiers  were  to  blame 
peace  messengers  were  sent  to  the  Indians,  but 
they  returned  with  the  response  that  the  Navajos 
had  given  them  a  severe  flogging.  This  of  course 


NAVAJO  HOSTILITIES.  69 

meant  war.  A  force  was  sent  against  tlieni  and 
a  battle  ensued,  in  which  the  hostiles  suffered 
severely.  A  temporary  peace  was  patched  up, 
only  to  be  broken  by  raids  and  stealings;  to  all 
requests  to  come  to  permanent  terms  they  invar- 
iablly  answered,  "You,"  (the  whites),  "  keep  us 
in  such  a  state  of  tumult,  we  cannot  raise  cattle 
or  crops  on  which  to  live,  therefore  we  are  forced 
to  steal."  In  a  year  (1861-62),  they  drove  off 
100,000  head  of  sheep,  1,000  head  of  cattle, 
besides  horses  and  mules.  They  also  killed 
many  persons  without  regard  to  age  or  sex. 

In  September,  1862,  a  formidable  militia  force 
was  organized  against  them,  with  a  view  to  ex 
termination,  but  its  operations  were  checked  by 
the  Government,  because  such  a  force  never 
stopped  to  discriminate  between  friendly  and 
hostile  Indians.  At  length  General  Carleton 
decided  to  apply  the  reservation  policy;  he  said, 
"  they  have  no  internal  Government  with  which 
to  make  a  treaty  binding.  They  are  patriarchal 
like  Abraham  of  old,  one  set  of  families  may 
promise,  another  may  violate.  They  understand 
force,  but  if  force  be  removed  they  become  lawless. 
They  should  be  collected  in  groups  away  from 
their  mountains  and  hiding  places,  and  should 
be  taught  to  read  and  write,  and  to  know  the 
truths  of  Christianity."  Bravely  said,  but  the 


70  NAVAJO  HOSTILITIES. 

difficulty  was  to  get  at  these  agile  people,  or  if 
that  were  possible,  to  separate  the  hostiles  from 
the  peaceful.  He  notified  them  of  his  project, 
and  gave  them  till  a  certain  day  to  accept,  all 
who  failed  were  to  be  regarded  as  hostile. 

A  large  number  accepted.  Against  the  rest 
troops  were  ordered  to  operate.  Every  marauding 
expedition  of  Navajos  was  followed  up  by  troops, 
with  orders  to  kill  all  warriors  in  arms,  and  to 
hold  women  and  children  as  captives.  These 
orders  were  strictly  obeyed.  But  such  was  the 
agility  of  the  Indians  that  only  one  of  their  par 
ties,  of  1 30  members,  was  captured  in  1863,  not 
withstanding  the  fact  that  the  famous  Kit  Carson 
had  a  host  of  troopers  at  his  back.  It  was  deci 
ded  that  really  little  could  be  done  till  winter^ 
when  they  would  be  forced  to  seek  the  security  of 
the  canons  for  the  purpose  of  saving  their  stock. 
Their  great  rendezvous  would  then  be  the  Canon 
de  Chelly,  one  of  the  most  remarkable  natural 
wonders  in  the  United  States,  its  approaches 
being  secure  and  its  walls  lined  by  ancient  cliff- 
dwellings. 

For  this  Canon  Colonel  Carson  started  in  Jan. 
1864,  with  390  men,  having  sent  one  company  to 
operate  from  the  eastern  end.  After  a  hard  march 
through  the  snow,  they  reached  the  canon  and 
attacked  the  guard  to  its  approach,  killing  eleven 


NAVAJO  HOSTILITIES.  7* 

Indians  and  capturing  several  squaws  and  chil 
dren.  He  then  disposed  his  forces  so  that  they 
might  descend  the  canon,  but  was  surprised  to 
find  that  the  force  destined  for  the  eastern  en 
trance  had  traversed  the  entire  length  of  it, 
without  even  so  much  as  a  battle,  the  enemy 
having  taken  the  alarm  and  scampered  to  the 
heights  through  ways  known  only  to  themselves. 
Still  the  effect  of  the  expedition  was  fully  felt  by 
the  hostiles.  They  were  on  the  borders  of  star 
vation  and  ready  for  terms.  The  only  conditions 
were  that  they  should  consent  to  removal  to  the 
reservation  at  the  Bosque.  These  terms  were 
readily  accepted  and  Carson's  expedition  was 
practically  at  an  end.  Carson's  command  con 
sisted  af  2,000  picked  men.  He  chose  the  right 
season  for  his  expedition  and  used  his  forces  so 
as  to  hem  the  hostiles  in  completely.  Their 
surrender  was  almost  as  a  nation.  In  a  single 
magnificent  operation,  and  with  the  killing  of 
but  few,  he  gathered  in  10,000  Indians — the 
largest  single  capture  on  record.  Those  who 
remained  out  quickly  responded  to  the,  now  well 
known,  overtures,  and  the  resources  of  the  Gov 
ernment  were  taxed  to  the  uttermost  to  find 
support  for  them.  Fort  Canby  was  disbanded  in 
August  and  Kit  Carson  was  sent  to  the  plains  to 


72  NAVAJO  HOSTILITIES. 

fight    Kiowas   and  Comanches,  and  the  Navajo 
wars  were  at  an  end. 

These  interesting  Indians  had  tried  the  experi 
ment  of  reservation  life  in  good  faith,  bnt  they 
had  become  dissatisfied  with  the  repeated  failure 
of  their  crops.  In  1868,  General  Sherman  and 
Colonel  Tappan  visited  them  as  a  Peace  Com 
mission.  They  report  that  the  reservation  of 
Bosque  Redondo  had  been  badly  chosen,  owing 
to  its  sterility  of  soil,  and  that  no  agricnltnrist 
could  make  a  living  there.  They  recommended 
that  the  Navajos  be  removed  to  a  reservation 
nearer  their  old  home  and  with  better  advantages. 
This  was  done,  and  since  then  their  condition 
has  steadily  improved.  In  1876  the  Navajos 
were  reported  as  self-supporting.  Since  then 
they  have  been  given  additional  lands,  owing  to 
increase  in  population  and  herds. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
THE  AFFAIR  OF  MOUNTAIN  MEADOW. 

THE  Indians  who  lived  in  the  great  Utah 
Basin  or  who  used  it  as  part  of  their  tramp 
ing  grounds,  were  of  the  Shoshone  stock, 
and  embraced  the  Snake,  Bannock  and  Ute 
families.  These  families  were  again  sub-divided 
into  tribes  with  various  names,  more  or  less  fan 
ciful.  As  a  rule,  they  were  not  unfriendly  to  the 
whites,  though  not  disinclined  to  war  under  the 
provocations  which  frequently  arose.  The  Mor 
mons  had  no  trouble  with  them,  because  they 
approached  them  as  equals  and  without  a  desire 
to  force  their  civilization  upon  them.  They  had 
great  power  over  them,  for  the  reason  that  they 
stood  up  for  them,  when  the  United  States 
attempted  to  execute  its  authority  among  them. 
It  may  be  said  that  the  Mormon  influence  over 
them  was  bad,  in  so  far  as  it  represented  antag 
onism  to  the  Government. 

It  is  not  our  purpose  to  narrate  how  bitter 
Mormon  antagonism  became  in  1856,  nor  to  dis 
cuss  the  wisdom  of  that  costly  and  useless  inva- 


74  TH#  AFFAIR  OF  MOUNTAIN  MEADOW. 

sion  of  their  country  by  the  Army  of  the  United 
States,  but  this  invasion  produced  the  greatest 
excitement  in  all  Mormondom.  It  fanned  the 
flames  of  religious  and  political  passion  till  they 
broke  out  in  various  forms.  In  that  year  there 
passed  through  Salt  Lake  a  large  emigrant  train, 
composed  mostly  of  Arkansas  families,  on  their 
way  to  Southern  California.  These  emigrants 
encamped  for  several  days  at  Salt  Lake  where 
their  numbers  were  largely  increased  by  Gentile 
accessions,  and  by  some  Mormons  who  had  become 
dissatisfied  with  their  religion. 

When  the  emigrant  train  started  on,  it  was 
denied  supplies  in  the  Mormon  settlements,  was 
treated  as  an  intrusive  and  dangerous  mass,  and 
was  denounced  as  the  vanguard  of  such  an  east 
ern  mob  as  might  soon  be  expected  to  come  for 
the  purpose  of  sacking  the  Mormon  Zion.  The 
train  moved  rapidly,  amid  contumely  and  scant 
food  supply,  but  without  thought  of  direct  attack 
on  their  lives.  After  crossing  the  Great  Basin, 
they  stopped  for  rest  at  Mountain  Meadows,  in 
Southwestern  Utah.  While  enjoying  their  rest 
here,  their  camp  was  suddenly  attacked  by 
Indians,  who  fired  upon  the  emigrants  as  they 
were  seated  around  their  fires  cooking  breakfast. 
Seven  of  their  number  fell  in  death  at  the  first 
volley,  and  sixteen  were  wounded.  The  rest 


tHB  AFFAIR  OF  MOUNTAIN  MEADOW.  75 

Were  thrown  into  confusion,  but  quickly  rallied, 
and  having  placed  their  women  and  children 
under  shelter  of  the  wagons,  they  were  soon 
returning  the  fire  with  deadly  effect.  The  Indians 
recoiled,  and  were  held  to  their  bloody  work  with 
difficulty  by  their  leaders,  several  of  whom  were 
recognized  as  whites  in  disguise.  They  shot 
down  the  cattle  of  the  emigrants,  and  maintained 
a  desultory  fire  throughout  the  day  and  night. 

On  the  next  day  the  Indians  were  reinforced, 
and  by  whites  in  diguise,  supposably  Mormon 
allies.  The  emigrants,  meanwhile,  were  making 
their  position  strong  by  chaining  their  wagons 
together  and  banking  earth  against  them.  Two 
of  their  number  stole  out  of  the  valley  and  started 
to  Cedar  City  for  aid.  They  met  three  citizens 
of  Cedar  City  on  their  way,  and  were  attacked 
by  them.  One  of  them  was  instantly  killed  and 
the  other  wounded.  The  wounded  man  made  his 
way  back  to  the  emigrant  camp,  and  his  story 
revealed  the  awful  fact  that  whites  as  well  as  In 
dians  were  their  antagonists.  In  this  they  were 
confirmed  by  witnessing  a  manoeuvering  party 
on  the  divide  of  the  Meadows,  composed  of  fully 
250  men,  one  third  of  whom  were  whites.  This 
party  decided  that  the  position  of  the  emigrants 
was  impregnable. 


76  THE  AFFAIR  OF  MOUNTAIN  MEADOW. 

But,  surrounded  as  they  were,  escape  was  out 
of  the  question.  Surrender  must  be  a  matter  of 
only  a  few  days.  A  council  of  Mormons  had 
been  held  and  it  was  agreed  that  the  emigrants 
should  be  decoyed  from  their  stronghold  and  ex 
terminated.  Lee  and  Bateman,  two  Mormon 
leaders,  approached  the  camp  with  a  flag  of  truce. 
Lee  represented  to  the  emigrants  that  the  Indians 
were  very  excited  and  bent  on  massacre,  but  that 
he  had  gotten  them  to  promise  they  would  inj  ure 
no  one  who  surrendered  to  the  Mormons.  Be 
lieving  that  the  Mormons  would  protect  them,  the 
surrender  was  made.  The  men  were  to  march 
out  unarmed,  each  one  with  a  Mormon  by  his 
side,  to  make  the  Indians  believe  he  was  a  captive. 
The  wagons,  loaded  with  food,  sick  and  wounded 
were  to  go  ahead.  The  women  and  children  were 
to  follow.  The  procession  passed  over  the  divide 
in  the  Meadows  and  down  the  slope  beyond.  A 
Mormon  leader,  Higbee,  is  there  with  a  company 
of  militia.  His  appearance  is  assuring,  for  his 
company  may  prove  a  source  of  protection  in  case 
the  Indians  renew  hostilities.  But  in  a  twink 
ling  his  company  wheels,  and  each  member  aims 
for  the  emigrant  nearest  him.  Flash  go  their 
rifles  in  concert  and  down  drop  the  victims  of 
their  bullets.  The  Indians  rush  from  their  am 
bush  and  dash  with  yells  upon  the  women.  The 


THE  AFFAIR  OF  MOUNTAIN  MEADOW.  77 

horrid  work  goes  on  upon  the  right  and  left,  Lee 
being  present  everywhere  to  see  that  the  extermi 
nation  is  made  complete.  The  rifle,  the  toma 
hawk,  the  bowie-knife,  all  do  their  devilish  bid 
ding,  till  there  is  no  one  left  to  tell  the  tale  of  a 
massacre  whose  fiendishness  is  without  parallel. 
If  it  be  said  it  was  not  inspired  by  white  men, 
and  not  participated  in  by  them,  the  answer  is,  no 
Indian  could  be  so  hellishly  malignant,  however 
much  he  might  be  a  tool  and  dupe.  The  men  all 
fell  at  the  first  fire.  The  wounded  and  the  wom 
en  were  brained  with  tomahawks.  Some  18  chil 
dren,  too  young  to  babble  as  witnesses,  were 
taken  and  distributed  among  the  Mormon  fami 
lies.  The  property  of  the  emigrants  was  divided, 
one  part  went  to  the  Indians,  the  other  was  sold 
for  the  benefit  of  the  Mormon  Church.  The  date 
of  the  massacre  was  Sept.  u,  1857. 

For  months  and  years  this  massacre  gave  occa 
sion  for  discussion  and  investigation.  The  Mor 
mon  leaders  charged  it  to  the  Indians,  who  had 
been  excited  by  the  hostility  of  the  whites.  Even 
admitting  that  whites  had  participated  in  it 
they  too  had  been  wronged.  The  Church,  as  a 
Church,  had  nothing  to  do  with  it.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  was  contended  that  the  whole  thing  was 
actuated  by  the  Church,  and  bore  evidence  of  its 
action.  The  facts  never  could  be  conclusively 


78  THE  AFFAIR  OF  MOUNTAIN  MEADOW. 

reached,  for  the  Mormons  had  hushed  the  lips  of 
those  who  might  have  convicted  them,  with  their 
bullets. 

In  1859  Captain  Campbell  passed  through  the 
Meadows  and  buried  the  remains  of  120  men, 
women  and  children.  The  Mormons  showered 
honors  upon  Lee  and  the  other  leaders  in  this 
dastardly  affair.  Years  afterwards  they  were 
brought  to  trial.  The  first  trial  was  a  farce.  The 
second  one  was  even  a  worse  farce,  in  the  respect 
that  the  shrewder  Mormons  felt  that  Lee  must  be 
sacrificed  in  order  to  save  themselves.  He  was 
found  guilty  of  murder,  and  was  shot  to  death  on 
the  scene  of  the  massacre,  where  he  confessed  to 
having  killed  five  of  the  emigrants  with  his  own 
hands.  He  died  cursing  the  leaders  who  had 
deserted  him,  but  professing  faith  in  his  religion. 
He  was  not  a  victim  to  justice,  but  was  as  much 
murdered  by  his  accomplices  as  if  they  had  fired 
the  last  fatal  volley. 


CHAPTER  IX. 
THE  SPOKANE  WARS. 

IN  1858,  the  Spokanes  and  other  tribes  in 
Washington  Territory  grew  uneasy  over 
the  approach  of  white  settlers  in  the  neigh 
borhood  of  the  Colville  mines.  Though  they 
could  safely  boast  that  they  had  never  shed  the 
blood  of  white  men,  an  expedition  against  them 
was  deemed  necessary.  Colonel  Steptoe  started 
with  1 57  men  and  two  howitzers  for  the  Spokane. 
When  crossing  the  prairie  which  borders  the 
Ingossomen  Creek,  he  was  suddenly  confronted 
by  1,200  warriors — Spokanes,  Pelouses,  Coeur  d* 
Allenes  and  Yakimas.  They  tried  to  provoke  an 
attack,  but  the  Colonel  avoided  a  collision  till  he 
found  the  cover  of  a  ravine.  Here  he  held  a 
conference  which  ended  in  satisfactory  explana 
tions.  This  was  what  the  Colonel  most  needed, 
for  it  gave  him  opportunity  for  a  safe  and  honor 
able  retreat. 

But  it  so  happened  that  an  impulsive  Chief, 
Mil-kap-si,  had  not  been  consulted,  he  rushed 
upon  the.  Colonel's  rear  guard,  with  his  band  and 

79 


So  '  THE  SPOKANE  WARS. 

opened  fire.  The  fire  became  general  on  the  part 
of  the  Indians,  and  many  of  the  white  troops 
fell.  Colonel  Steptoe  was  forced  to  relinquish 
retreat  and  form  for  battle.  He  did  so,  on  the 
most  advantageous  spot  he  could  find,  but  only  to 
be  surrounded  on  three  sides  by  Indians,  Spok- 
anes  on  the  north,  Coeur  d'  Allenes  on  the  east, 
and  Pelouses  on  the  west,  all  of  whom  kept  up  an 
incessant  firing.  At  night-fall  it  was  decided 
that  the  position  could  not  be  defended,  and  that 
safety  lay  only  in  stealthy  and  rapid  retreat. 
The  howitzer  and  useless  guns  were  buried,  the 
wounded  stock  was  killed,  all  provisions  and 
accoutrements,  except  what  each  soldier  could 
lightly  carry,  were  abandoned.  Under  cover  of 
the  darkness  the  soldiers  filed  down  the  hill  at 
the  rear,  and  plunged  off  in  rapid  flight,  never 
stopping  till  they  reached  the  Snake  river,  90 
miles  below. 

This  affair  threw  the  settlements  into  the 
greatest  consternation,  for  the  fact  that  so  peace 
ful  a  nation  as  the  Spokanes  had  uprisen,  gave 
evidence  of  a  great  grievance  and  a  general  war. 
Investigation  showed  that  the  Indians  had  been 
influenced  by  the  Mormon  statement  that  Jesus 
Christ  had  appeared  eastward  of  the  mountains, 
and  his  coming  might  soon  be  expected  on  the 
westward.  Accordingly,  General  Clarke,  Com- 


THE  SPOKANE  WARS.  -       81 

mander  on  the  Pacific,  issued  orders  that  all 
Indians  be  detached  from  Mormon  influence. 
This  was  all  the  more  necessary,  because  the 
Indians  were  found  to  be  well  provided  with  arms 
and  ammunition,  which  they  could  have  gotten 
only  from  Mormon  traders,  or  from  the  posts  of 
the  Hudson  Bay  Company.  Investigation  also 
showed  that  the  Indians  were  dissatisfied  with 
the  failure  of  the  Government  to  approve  and 
carry  out  the  various  treaties  which  had  been 
lately  made.  This  was  true  of  the  friendly  In 
dians;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  the  wilder  tribes, 
were  opposed  to  any  and  all  treaties,  for  they 
felt  they  would  curtail  their  privileges. 

So  discontent,  whose  sources  were  both  within 
and  without,  grew  apace.  The  conviction  arose 
that  the  Indians  must  be  punished  and  General 
Clarke  prepared  for  this.  His  ultamatum  was 
that  the  Spokanes  and  other  friendly  tribes  drive 
all  the  hostiles  from  their  midst,  restore  the  prop 
erty  taken  from  Colonel  Steptoe,  and  surrender 
all  who  fired  on  his  command  without  the  con 
sent  of  the  chiefs.  The  reply  came  that  they 
did  not  want  °  to  fight,  but  would  not  deliver  up 
their  neighbors.  Colonel  Wright  moved  with 
the  main  column  of  the  gathered  forces  from 
Fort  Walla  Walla.  Another  column  had  its 
base  at  Fort  Simcoe  on  the  Yakima.  .\  treaty 


82  THE  SPOKANE  WARS. 

was  made  with,  the  Nez  Perces,  and  30  of  their 
number  inlisted  as  volunteers.  Wright's  column 
moved  with  570  regulars,  30  Indian  scouts,  100 
teamsters  and  two  howitzers.  They  built  Fort 
Taylor  on  the  Snake,  and  garrisoned  it.  The 
main  body  again  marched  to  Four  Lakes,  where 
they  found  the  Indians  in  force.  Colone*! 
Wright  threw  two  companies  in  the  rear  and 
charged  their  front  with  four  other  companies. 
The  Indians  fled  over  the  hill  and  across  the 
plain  beyond,  many  of  their  number  being  shot 
down  by  the  riflemen  who  had  gained  the  cover 
of  a  small  piece  of  woods. 

The  pursuit  was  kept  up  the  next  day,  and 
the  Indians  were  found  again  in  front  of  a  stretch 
of  timber,  they  having  set  the  prairie  grass  on 
fire  to  stop  their  pursuers.  Under  cover  of  the 
smoke  they  opened  fire  on  the  troops.  A  charge 
through  the  flames  was  ordered  and  the  Indians 
were  forced  into  the  timber.  The  howitzers  opened 
on  them  and  they  were  forced  to  flee,  being 
pursued  closely  by  the  troops.  For  seven  hours 
the  running  fight  was  kept  up  and.  the  distance 
traversed  was  14  miles.  The  troops  did  not 
suffer  much  from  the  Indian  fire,  but  the  Indians 
lost  two  of  their  chiefs  and  many  warriors. 

The  Indians  were  much  discouraged  and  called 
for  a  parley.  Col.  Wright  demanded  absolute 


THE  SPOKANE  WARS  83 

surrender.  Some  of  the  chiefs  favored  it,  and 
brought  in  the  offenders  in  their  tribe.  Others 
opposed.  The  Col.  then  continued  his  pursuit 
up  the  Spokane.  He  found  that  parties  of  In 
dians  were  running  their  stock  off  into  the 
mountains.  These  he  attacked  and  captured  800 
horses.  This  was  a  worse  blow  to  the  Indians 
than  a  victorious  battle  would  have  proved,  for 
horses  were  almost  their  sole  wealth. 

Col.  Wright  next  moved  across  to  the  mission 
on  Coeur  d'  Allene  River,  where  he  met  400  In 
dians  in  council.  Here  his  conditions  of  surren 
der  were  accepted.  He  then  marched  to  Lahto, 
where  he  met  the  Spokanes  in  council.  They 
were  treated  with  on  the  same  terms  as  the  Coeur 
d'  Allenes,  and  gave  promises  of  permanent  good 
behavior.  Meanwhile  Major  Garnett  had  fought 
a  victorious  battle  on  the  Yakima  with  the  Pelou- 
ses,  and  had  brought  them  to  terms.  In  all  these 
treaties  Col.  Wright  insisted  strenously  on  the 
surrender  of  those  Indians  who  had  offended  the 
laws  of  their  tribe  and  the  country,  by  waging 
war  without  the  consent  of  their  chiefs,  by  mur 
dering  and  pillaging  and  by  stealing  cattle.  He 
secured  a  large  number  of  culprits  in  this  way  and 
had  them  properly  punished.  This  campaign,  so 
effective  of  peace,  was  remarkable  in  the  fact  that 
it  embraced,  two  battles,  several  skirmishes,  the 


84 


THE  SPOKANE  WARS. 


loss  of  many  Indian  warriors,  the  captnre  of  over 
1000  horses,  the  destruction  of  large  quantities  of 
Indian  supplies,  the  punishment  by  death  of  14 
murderers  and  robbers,  the  surrender  of  three 
powerful  tribes,  the  giving  of  numerous  hostages 
for  good  behavior,  all  without  the  loss  of  a  single 
white  soldier  killed  in  battle. 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE  FIERCE  APACHES  AND 
ARRAPAHOES. 

5 HE  Apaches  have  resisted  the  whites  more 
stubbornly  than,  any  other   Indian   tribe. 
They  have  had  desert,  rock  and  mountain 
to  aid  them.       They  have  proven  brave, 
cunning  and  fleet.       There  is   no   atrocity  they 
have  not  committed  and  none  they  have  not  been 
subjected  to.      They   have   terrorized  a  country 
larger  than  five  average  States  and  have  come  to 
be  regarded  as  the  most  savage  and  treacherous 
dwellers  on  the  soil  of  the  United  States. 

They  originally  embraced  nine  tribes,  or  fami 
lies,  whose  territory  was  in  New  Mexico  and 
Arizona,  with  margins  south  into  Mexico  and 
north  to  the  Ute  country.  The  Mexicans  never 
gained  any  control  over  the  Apaches,  with  whom 
they  were  perpetually  at  war.  Apaches  were 
always  a  terror  to  emigrants  passing  over  the 
routhern  routes  to  California.  They  never 
attacked  but  by  surprise.  Yet  when  settlers 

first  went  into  New  Mexico  to  stop  permanently, 

85 


86          THE  FIERCE  APACHES  AND  ARRAPAH^ES. 

strange  to  say,  the  Apaches  let  them  alone,  for 
they  saw  in  them  prospective  allies  against  the 
Mexicans,  whom  they  mortally  hated. 

In  1851  the  Apaches  murdered  a  mail  party  of 
ii  men.  The  offending  band  was  captured  and 
isolated  on  a  reservation  .In  1853,  they  attacked 
and  almost  annihilated  Lieutenant  Davidson's 
command  of  60  men.  Immediately  a  large  force 
of  troops  was  thrown  into  the  midst  of  the  offend 
ing  tribe  and  it  was  forced  to  sue  for  peace.  In 
1854-55  the  Government  was  at  war  with  the 
Apaches,  southeast  of  the  Rio  Grande,  who  sur 
rendered  only  after  receiving  severe  punishment. 

The  eastern  Apaches  made  no  general  war  on 
the  United  States  till  the  outbreak  of  the 
Southern  Rebellion,  but  the  western  Apaches 
seemed  never  to  cease  their  marauding  expedi 
tions  and  piratical  warfare.  At  the  opening  of 
our  civil  war  the  troops  were  withdrawn  from  the 
Apache  country,  and  the  mail  routes  were  aban 
doned.  The  western  Apaches  took  advantage 
of  the  situation  and  ran  wild  in  their  robberies 
and  murders.  They  seemed  to  be  everywhere 
and  men  and  women  were  killed  and  ranches 
destroyed,  even  where  settlements  were  thick. 
The  mining  town  of  Tubac  was  deserted  and 
Tucson  dwindled  away  to  a  village  of  200  people. 


THE  FIERCE  APACHES  AND  ARRAPAHOES.         87 

To  add  to  the  desperation  of  the  situation  the 
Texas  militia  invaded  New  Mexico  and  the  Apache 
country  in  the  interest  of  the  South.  They 
occupied  Fort  Stanton,  and  made  their  conquest 
of  the  country  complete  for  a  time.  But  the 
Utes  and  Jicarilla  Apaches  turned  against  them. 
Soon  the  Mescalero  Apaches  revolted  and  carried 
on  predatory  war  against  the  Confederates  and 
all  settlers.  This  condition  would  have  proved 
ruinous  to  New  Mexico  and  Arizona,  but  for  the 
fact  that  Colorado  volunteers  so  augmented  the 
forces  of  General  Canby,  that  he  was  able  to 
drive  the  Texans  from  the  line  of  the  Rio 
Grande.  At  the  same  time  General  Carleton 
was  pushing  a  column  of  3,000  Californians 
eastward  from  Fort  Yuma  and  opening  commu 
nications  with  the  Pacific  coast.  He  met  with 
desperate  resistance  on  the  part  of  the  western 
Apaches  who  made  a  stand  at  Apache  Pass,  which 
they  thought  impregnable.  Bat  the  fire  of 
Carleton's  mountain  howitzers  demoralized 
them  and  they  fled  with  a  loss  of  66  killed. 

In  September,  1862,  Carleton  reached  the  Rio 
Grande  and  relieved  Canby.  He  now  devoted 
his  entire  attention  to  the  subjugation  of  the  In 
dians.  He  sent  Kit  Carson,  with  five  companies, 
to  Fort  Stanton  to  operate  against  the  Mescaleros 
and  Navajos.  Capt.  McCleave  was  sent  directly 


88         THE  FIERCE  APACHES  AND  ARRAPAHOES 

into  the  Mescalero-Apache  country.  Capt.  Rob 
erts,  was  sent  to  the  same  section  by  another  route. 
The  troops  were  nearly  all  Californians,  with  no 
love  for  Indians,  especially  Apaches.  They  were 
under  orders  to  "kill  the  men  wherever  found 
and  to  take  all  women  and  children  prisoners." 

Carson  reached  Port  Stanton  without  much 
fighting.  McCleave  encountered  the  Apaches 
at  Dog  Canon,  one  of  their  strongholds,  and  com 
pletely  routed  a  force  of  100  warriors,  who  beat 
a  retreat  to  Fort  Stanton  and  surrendered  to  Kit 
Carson.  The  chief  of  this  band  was  "  Always 
Ready, "  who  surrendered  with  the  following 
speech :  "  You  are  stronger  than  we.  We  have 
fought  you  so  long  as  we  had  rifles  and  powder ; 
but  your  weapons  are  better  than  ours.  Give  us 
like  weapons  and  turn  us  loose  and  we  will  fight 
you  again.  But  we  are  worn  out ;  we  have  no 
heart,  no  provisions,  no  means  to  live.  Your 
troops  are  everywhere.  Our  springs  are  either 
occupied  or  overlooked  by  your  men.  You  have 
driven  us  from  our  last  and  best  stronghold  and 
we  have  no  more  heart.  Do  with  us  as  seems 
good  to  you,  but  do  not  forget  that  we  are  men 
and  braves.  "  His  band  was  sent  to  the  reserva 
tion  at  Bosque  Redondo,  and  it  was  voluntarily 
followed  by  hundreds  of  others  of  the  Mescalero- 
Apaches. 


THE  FIERCE  APACHES  AND  ARRAPAHOES.         89 

The  attention  of  the  army  was  now  turned  to 
the  Mimbreno-Apaches.  During  the  early  part 
of  1863,  more  than  forty  of  their  warriors  were 
killed.  The  latter  part  of  the  year  was  devoted 
to  conquest  of  the  Navajos.  So  actively  had 
operations  been  carried  on  that  the  Navajos  sur 
rendered  almost  as  a  tribe,  and  in  a  single  year 
over  5000  of  them  were  placed  on  the  Bosque 
reservation. 

In  1864,  General  Carleton  was  free  to  direct 
all  his  energies  against  the  Western  Apaches. 
He  had  made  up  his  mind  that  nothing  but  a 
war  of  extermination  would  settle  these  maraud 
ers.  They  moved  so  rapidly  and  eluded  pursuit 
so  successfully  by  running  over  the  Mexican 
border,  that  Carleton  asked  the  co-operation  of 
the  Governors  of  Sonora  and  Chihuahua,  which 
was  promised.  The  miners  of  the  respective 
mining  towns  in  Arizona  agreed  to  keep  a  force 
in  the  field.  The  Pimas  and  Maricopas  were 
armed  with  improved  weapons  and  furnished 
with  white  officers.  Here  was  a  combination  of 
foreign  and  home  military,  armed  miners  and 
two  friendly  Indian  tribes  against  the  Apaches, 
and  all  intent  on  a  war  of  extermination. 
Carleton  said  :  "  the  work  must  be  done  now  and 
effectually,  or  we  shall  have  a  twenty  years,  war 
on  our  hands. " 


f 
90          THE  FIERCE  APACHES  AND  ARRAPAHOEc^, 

So,  at  it  they  went.  The  Apaches  had  the  help 
of  the  Navajos,  who  yet  remained  unsubdued. 
The  war  was  carried  on  by  both  sides  with  unre 
lenting  fury.  Battle  after  battle  was  fought, 
with  great  loss  of  life.  The  loss  to  our  troops 
was  never  fully  reported,  but  as  to  the  enemy 
the  results  of  the  year's  work  footed  as  follows : — 
Indians  killed  363,  wounded  140,  sheep  captured 
12,284,  horses  2,742.  Over  2,000  Navajos  were 
sent  to  the  Bosque  reservation,  but  the  wily 
Apaches  avoided  capture.  They  were  neither 
exterminated  nor  conquered,  though  the  losses  of 
crops  in  their  sheltered  valleys  had  made  them 
poor  and  disposed  them  to  peace. 

The  Apache  bosom  burned  against  the  one  con 
dition  of  surrender  which  banished  them  to  the 
Bosque  reservation.  They  agreed  to  treat,  but 
not  with  this  alternative  as  a  stipulation.  They 
sent  four  of  their  chiefs  to  inspect  this  reserva 
tion  and  report  to  the  tribe,  but  none  of  them 
returned,  and  the  war  went  on.  At  the  close  of  the 
Civil  War  in  the  United  States,  New  Mexico  fell 
into  the  Department  of  Missouri,  and  Arizona  into 
that  of  the  Pacific.  General  Halleck  had  com 
mand  in  the  latter  Department,  and  he  believed 
fully  in  the  policy  of  exterminating  the  Apaches, 
who  were  now  mostly  in  Arizona.  "  It  is  useless 
to  negotiate  with  them,"  he  said,  "for  they  will 


THE  FIERCE  APACHES  AND  ARRAPAHOES.         91 

observe  no  treaties,  agreements  or  truces.  With 
them  there  is  no  alternative  but  vigorous  war, 
till  they  are  completely  destroyed  or  forced  to  sur 
render  as  prisoners  of  war." 

The  troops  in  Arizona  were  under  the  com 
mand  of  General  Mason,  and  he  prosecuted  the 
war  on  the  Apaches  even  more  relentlessly  than 
before.  The  white  soldiers  and  citizens  excelled 
the  Indians  in  cruelty,  and  to  kill  an  Indian,  on 
general  principles,  was  the  comman  law  of  the 
situation.  The  unprovoked  murder  of  Waba 
Yuma,  chief  of  the  Hualapais,  drove  that  friendly 
tribe  into  hostility,  and  they  proved  to  be  far 
more  vicious  warriors  than  the  Apaches.  The 
Bosque  reservation  was  only  designed  for  tempo 
rary  use.  Most  of  the  Indians  on  it  had  been 
sent  there  with  the  promise  that  they  would  be 
provided  with  larger  and  permanent  reservations. 
The  crops  failed  at  the  Bosque  in  1865.  The 
Navajos  and  Apaches  did  not  agree.  Each  ele 
ment  claimed  the  early  fulfillment  of  the  Govern 
ment  promise.  Each  charged  the  agent  at  the 
reservation  with  favoritism.  In  November  1865 
the  entire  tribe  of  Mescalero- Apaches  left  the 
reservation  and  went  to  their  own  country.  This 
meant  war,  and  White  Eye  fought  his  tribe  for 
several  years.  When  it  finally  surrendered,  it 
got  a  reservation  of  its  own  in  its  own  country. 


92          THE  FIERCE  APACHES  AND  ARRAPAHOES. 

As  the  Apache  wars  continued  the  Indians 
found  *mt  new  covers  in  the  mountain  fastnesses, 
and  their  abandoned  valleys  were  occupied  by  the 
whites.  Deserted  towns  and  villages  were  repopu- 
lated  and  the  mining  camps  became  compara 
tively  safe.  Still,  the  roads  and  trails  were  full  of 
danger,  and  no  one  dared  venture  far  from  a 
peopled  center  without  arms.  Cattle  were  run 
off  by  the  Indians  from  farm  and  ranche.  There 
was  no  telling  the  moment  when  these  swift 
marauders  would  appear.  Years  of  war  had  only 
added  to  their  cunning  and  their  malice.  Not  a 
single  Apache  had  been  thoroughly  subdued,  ex 
cept  when  mortally  shot.  The  policy  of  extermi 
nation  had  been  thoroughly  tried,  and  at  the  be 
ginning  of  1869,  many  of  the  army  officers  were 
free  to  confess  that  it  was  a  failure. 

In  April  1869,  a  permanent  Board  of  Indian 
Commissioners  was  formed.  It  advised  a  change 
from  a  forceful  to  a  peaceful  policy  in  dealing 
with  the  Indians.  But  General  Ord,  who  had 
come  into  command  on  the  Pacific,  pursued  the 
policy  of  extermination.  In  that  year,  he  reported 
that  200  Apaches  had  been  killed  by  parties  who 
had  trailed  them  into  their  mountain  fastnesses. 
Many  of  their  villages  had  been  burned  and 
large  quantities  of  stores  destroyed.  While  he  was 
disproving  the  wisdom  of  his  own  policy,  the 


THE  FIERCE  APACHES  AND  ARRAPAHOES.         93 

obj  ect  of  legitimate  war  was  being  obtained.  The 
Indians  were  learning  that  they  conld  not  escape 
the  invading  power  of  the  whites,  nor  forever  sub 
mit  to  destruction  of  their  property.  One  tribe  of 
Arivapas  came  in  and  surrendered  to  Lieutenant 
Whitman,  at  camp  Grant,  and  there  being  no 
reservation  for  them  to  go  to,  he  set  them  to  work 
cutting  hay  for  the  garrison.  In  April  they 
were  set  upon  by  Americans,  Mexicans  and 
Papago  Indians  from  Tucson  and  practically 
exterminated,  women  and  children  being  butch 
ered  as  well  as  the  men.  This  Camp  Grant 
massacre.raised  a  whirlwind  of  excitement  among 
all  humanitarians,  and  President  Grant  sent 
Vincent  Colyer  to  the  scene,  with  power  to 
abj  ust  the  Indian  troubles.  He  was  not  welcomed 
by  the  whites  of  Arizona,  and  knew  nothing 
of  Indin  nature — at  least  Apache  nature.  Yet 
he  worked  heroically,  laid  out  an  extensive  plan 
of  reservations,  and  was  instrumental  in  securing 
the  removal  of  many  tribes  to  them.  Their  site 
was  generally  illy  chosen  and  the  occupants 
lived  discontentedly.  Many  of  them  were  after 
wards  abandoned  by  the  Indians,  who  left  alto 
gether  or  were  transferred  to  more  favorable  sites. 
In  1871  General  Crook  took  command  in 
Arizona.  He  was  a  noted  Indian  fighter  but  not 
an  exterminator.  He  believed  in  conquering  and 


94          THE  FIERCE)  APACHES  AND  ARRAPAHOES. 

then  treating  justly.  He  said,  "I  am  satisfied 
that  a  sharp,  active  campaign  against  the  Apache 
will  make  him  one  of  the  best  Indians  in  the 
country  and  save  the  government  millions  of 
dollars.  He  must  either  cultivate  the  soil  or 
steal.  Our  vacillating  policy  encourages  him  to 
the  latter."  Colyer  was  there  and  was  given 
time  to  try  his  peace  policy.  Crook  was  then 
given  full  power  to  proceed,  but  not  wishing  to 
clash  with  the  peace  commissioners  he  contented 
himself  with  pursuing  and  punishing,  without 
prosecuting  active  hostiles. 

At  length  the  Colyer  policy  was  pronounced  a 
failure.  The  hostiles  neither  came  in  nor 
remained  quiet.  They  made  54  attacks  in  the 
year  1872,  killing  over  50  citizens  and  soldiers 
and  stealing  500  horses.  Crook  then  an 
nounced  his  intention  of  punishing  the  incor- 
rigably  hostile.  He  began  operations  in  a  country 
where  the  enemy  was  imbued  with  the  hatreds  of 
three  centuries,  where  whites  were  almost  as 
barbarous  as  the  Apaches,  where  criminals  from 
other  States  and  Territories  had  sought  refuge, 
where  continuous  war  had  doubled  savagery, 
where  mountain  and  ravine  made  pursuit  diffi 
cult,  where  escape  over  the  Mexican  border  was 
easy  and  final.  His  winter  campaign  against  the 
Tontos,  Coyoteros,  Tampais,  and  Hualapais, 


THE  FIERCE  APACHES  AND  ARRAPAHOES.          95 

brought  them  to  terms.  All  of  these  had  fooled 
Colyer  and  his  peace  notions.  They  were  once 
mpre  placed  on  reservations,  where  they  still 
remain,  except  as  they  were  changed  for  health 
considerations. 

Crook  fonght  Apache  with  Apache.  He  enlist 
ed  every  friendly  he  conld  and  thus  pursued 
with  a  knowledge  the  whites  could  never  have 
acquired  in  themselves.  His  employment  of 
Indian  police  at  reservations  has  since  been 
generally  adopted.  The  Apaches  were  impressed 
with  the  information  that  their  welfare  lay  in 
their  own  keeping.  By  making  these  democratic 
people  agents  of  the  law,  they  were  led  to  punish 
their  own  evil  doers.  This  was  a  mighty  stride 
forward.  A  new  era  had  dawned  on  the  Apaches. 
Whenever  they  were  friendly  they  were  useful. 
Only  the  renegades  were  left  to  be  hunted.  In 
1875  Governor  Safford  said  in  his  message: 
"  At  no  period  in  the  history  of  Arizona  have  our 
Indian  affairs  been  so  satisfactory.  General 
Crook,  in  the  subjugation  of  the  Apaches,  has 
sustained  his  former  well-earned  military  reputa 
tion  and  deserves  the  gratitude  of  our  people. " 
No  extermination,  no  peace;  neither  vengean^ 
nor  sentimentalisrn  ;  justice  to  white  and  red : — 
this  was  the  Crook  policy. 


96          THE  FIERCE  APACHES  AND  ARRAPAHOES. 

But  in  1874  the  reservations  of  Arizona  passed 
from  the  War  Department  to  the  Indian  Bureau. 
The  policy,  of  the  latter  was  that  of  concentration. 
It  began  to  take  from  the  Indians  their  promised 
future  homes,  the  homes  they  had  improved,  the 
lands  they  had  irrigated.  Crook  refused  to  coun 
tenance  this  injustice,  and  was  removed.  Colonel 
Kautz  succeeded  him,  but  held  to  Crook's  views 
in  a  modified  way.  The  Indian  Bureau  continued 
its  shifting  of  Indians  from  old  to  new  agencies. 
Force  was  used  by  these  advocates  of  peace  to 
effect  their  object.  The  upshot  of  the  new  dispen 
sation  was  discontent  among  the  whole  of  the 
tribes,  desertion  from  the  reservations,  more 
grinding  tyranny  on  the  part  of  the  Bureau, 
revolt  on  the  part  of  the  Indians. 

By  1878,  there  was  a  general  breaking  up  of 
all  that  had  been  previously  established.  The 
Apaches  were  abroad  in  bands,  and  as  predatory 
and  dangerous  as  ever.  Every  dissatisfied  Indian 
helped  to  augment  the  forces  that  skimmed  the 
Mexican  borders,  now  here,  killing  and  stealing ; 
now  there,  burning  and  murdering.  In  1879, 
Major  Morrow  hunted  them  incessantly  with  the 
9th  Cavalry  but  they  dodged  him  with  the  acumer 
of  the  fox  in  front  of  the  hounds.  In  1880,  Col 
onel  Hatch  chased  them  through  all  the  recesses 
of  the  San  Mates,  Mimbres  and  Mogollon  moun- 


THE  FIERCE  APACHES  AND  ARRAPAHOES.         97 

tains,  and  Colonel  Carr  met  them  only  to  tnrn 
them  south  into  Mexico.  In  this  long  and  desper 
ate  chase,  the  Indians  had  no  friends  and  were 
desperate.  They  killed  and  plundered  indiscrimi 
nately,  and  whatever  their  own  losses  may  have 
been  they  left  a  three-fold  loss  in  their  trail. 

The  hostile  Apache  in  Mexico  was  out  of  the 
way  of  American  troops,  but  was  not  much  better 
off.  He  was  dangerous  wherever  he  might  be. 
and  therefore  an  object  of  hatred.  But  with  the 
Mexican  side  we  have  nothing  to  do.  The  Apache 
returned  quick  enough  and  gave  our  forces  some 
thing  to  do.  His  return,  however,  set  people  to 
thinking.  Might  there  not  be  a  mistake  in  dealing 
with  him.  For  a  man — even  an  Indian  man — to 
say:  "I  would  sooner  die  than  be  on  such  or 
such  an  reservation,  where  I  shall  only  perish 
with  disease  or  starvation,  might  there  not  be 
provided  a  congenial  reservation.  Since  the 
claim  of  the  white  man  was  only  a  theft  any  way, 
why  might  not  there  be  consideration  enough  to 
say  to  the  Indian  'enjoy  the  slice  we  leave  you.'  " 

In  1882,  a  treaty  was  concluded  with  Mexico 
which  authorized  the  pursuit  of  Indians  by  the 
troops  of  the  two  nationalities  across  the  borders. 
At  the  same  time  General  Crook  was  returned  to 
his  old  command  in  Arizona.  He  had  common 
sense,  and  kept  faith  with  the  Indians.  For  these 


9«          THE  FIERCE  APACHES  AND  ARRAPAHOES. 

things  they  liked  him,  though  many  whites  did 
not.  The  biggest  surrender  of  the  year  was  that 
of  the  Indian  Bureau  to  General  Crook.  He  per 
suaded  the  discontented  Indians  to  go  back  to 
reservations  and  he  took  care  to  see  that  they 
were  where  they  could  be  happy  and  useful.  He 
next  turned  his  attention  to  the  hostiles,  mostly 
over  the  border  in  Mexico.  They  had  no  homes 
and  were  incorrigible.  They  refused  every  offer 
to  negotiate.  Yet  they  made  their  invasions  and 
committed  their  murders.  One  of  their  leaders, 
called  Peaches,  was  arrested  and  induced  to  lead 
Crook's  troops  to  the  Apache  stronghold  beyond 
the  border.  It  was  reached  and  a  battle  ensued 
in  which  the  Indians  were  defeated.  A  parley 
ensued,  at  which  the  renegades  agreed  to  come 
back  to  a  reservation  selected  by  themselves  on 
Turkey  Creek,  near  camp  Apache.  By  1884, 
these  were  the  most  industrious  and  self-support 
ing  Indians  on  any  reservation. 


CHAPTER  XI 

WARS  WITH  OGALLALI/AS  AND 
CROWS. 

FTER  the  Civil  war  the  mountainous 
country  between  the  Continental  divide 
and  the  plains  came  into  prominence  as  a 
mining  section.  The  rush  thither  surpass 
ed  everthing  before  known  in  the  northwest. 
The  Alder  Gulch  region  is  said  to  have  yielded 
50,000,000  of  dollars  in  four  years.  Helena, 
Virginia  City,  Bozeman  and  other  mining  towns 
sprang  into  existence  and  were  dependent  on  out 
side  marts  for  supplies.  One  route  to  this  new 
Golconda  was  by  the  emigrant  road  through  South 
Pass  and  northward  by  way  of  Fort  Hall.  An 
other,  was  by  boat  up  the  Missouri  and  Yellow 
stone  and  thence  through  the  Crow  Indian 
coutry  to  the  mines.  Both  of  these  routes  were 
500  miles  longer  than  a  direct  way  would  have 
been  from  Fort  Laramie  to  Bozeman.  Prepara 
tions  for  the  opening  of  a  direct  way — afterwards 
known  as  the  Montana  Road — were  begun  in  1865, 
and  negotiations  for  the  right  to  pass  through 
the  intermediate  Indian  countries  were  opened. 


ioo  WARS  WITH  OGALIvALLAS  AND  CROWS. 

»  The  negotiations  would  Have  been  easy  if  the 
Crows  alone  had  been  interested,  for  almost  the 
entire  country  was  known  as  "  the  land  of  the 
Crows,"  of  the  Dakota  family,  a  nation  of  tall, 
well  formed  hunters  and  horsemen,  who  had 
never  been,  as  a  nation,  hostile  to  the  whites. 
But  they  had  been  unmercifully  punished  by  the 
Sioux  from  the  east  and  north,  and  had  been 
driven  from  a  great  part  of  their  native  grounds — 
known  as  the  Powder  River  Country,  a  natural 
hunting  space  filled  with  game  of  all  kinds  and 
therefore  very  desirable  possessions  for  any  In 
dian  tribe. 

These  facts  necessitated  treaties  for  right  of 
way  with  not  only  the  Crows,  who  embraced 
three  distinct  families,  or  tribes,  but  with  the 
Sioux,  embracing  the  families  or  tribes  of  Min- 
neconjous,  Lower  Brules,  Two  Kettles,  Blackfoot 
Sioux,  Sans  Arcs,  Oncpapas  and  Ogallallas. 
The  treaties  were  effected  at  Fort  Sully  in  Octo 
ber  1865,  and  they  were  remarkable,  if  not  sus- 
picio\is,  in  the  respect  that  they  were  signd  by 
very  few  of  the  leading  Chiefs.  The  Chiefs  who 
signed  for  the  Ogallallas  had  no  influence  with 
the  tribe  and  their  action  was  repudiated.  It 
was  so  with  many  of  the  others.  Even  the 
Crows,  natural  enemies  of  the  Sioux  tribes,  could 
not  be  held  to  their  treaties. 


WARS  WITH  OGALLALLAS  AND  CROWS.  101 

But  it  is  hardly  to  be  supposed  that  the  govern 
ment  thought  these  treaties  would  stand,  for 
simultaneously  with  their  execution  it  sent  Gen 
eral  Connor  into  the  Powder  River  Country  to 
establish  Fort  Reno,  and  punish  revolting  tribes, 
among  whom  a  powerful  anti-treaty  sprung  up 
rapidly.  This  sentiment  was  most  powerful 
among  the  three  bands  of  Ogallallas,  whose  lead 
er  was  Red  Cloud,  a  warrior  of  rank  and  great 
influence,  who  professed  ability  to  communicate 
directly  with  the  Great  Spirit,  who  was  his  guide 
in  all  matters  of  moment.  Red  Cloud,  as  did  all 
the  Chiefs  of  any  account,  realized  that  the 
building  of  the  Montana  highway  would  destroy 
their  favorite  hunting  grounds  and  reduce  their 
tribes  to  a  dependent  condition.  He  was  ably 
seconded  in  his  opposition  to  the  treaties  by  "  Man- 
afraid-of-his-horses,"  another  Ogallalla  Chief  of 
great  prominence. 

The  Brule  Sioux  were,  as  a  tribe,  hardly  less 
antagonistic  to  the  treaties  than  the  rest,  though 
their  Chief,  Spotted-Tail  favored  them.  Spotted- 
Tail  had  risen  to  prominence  in  his  tribe  through 
a  love  tragedy.  He  was  rival  with  one  of  the 
greatest  chiefs  for  the  hand  of  a  comely  maiden. 
The  Chief  demanded  that  he  should  cease  his 
pretensions,  as  being  of  no  rank  in  the  tribe. 
Burning  with  rage,  Spotted-Tail  snatched  his 


102  WARS  WITH  OGAIJvAIvLAS  AND  CROWS. 


knife  and  defied  his  rival.  There  was  a  life  and 
death  struggle,  after  which  both  contestants  were 
found  locked  in  each  others  arms,  seemingly  dead. 
But  Spotted-Tail  recovered,  married  his  girl,  and 
was  elected  as  Chief  of  the  tribe  after  the  death 
of  the  hereditary  chief.  At  the  time  of  the  treat 
ies  above  mentioned  his  authority  was  merely 
nominal,  owing  to  the  strong  anti-treaty  senti 
ment,  though  he  was  counted  on  by  the  whites  as 
a  sure  friend, 

Every  effort  was  made  to  induce  the  dissenting 
Indians  to  come  to  terms,  but  they  remained 
undeceived  by  promises.  Military  occupation  of 
their  country  was  going  on  all  the  time  that 
negotiations  were  pending.  Colonel  Carrington 
was  ordered  up  from  Fort  Kearney  with  2,000 
men,  of  which  fully  500  were  scattered  directly 
along  the  route  of  the  proposed  new  highway. 
Their  presence  was  a  plain  menace,  and  Red 
Cloud,  Man-afraid-of-his-horses,  and  other  chiefs 
broke  off  all  further  negotiations.  The  Lower 
B  rules  with  a  few  stragglers  from  other  tribes  were 
the  only  Indians  who  concluded  to  maintain  peace. 
They  numbered  at  the  time  2,500  people,  but 
within  a  year,  Spotted-Tail,  Standing  Elk  and 
Swift  Bear,  could  not  muster  over  100  lodges  , 
mostly  women  and  old  men,  so  great  had  been 
the  defection  in  their  ranks  to  those  of  Red  Cloud. 


WARS  WITH  O&ALtAUvAS  AND  CROWS.  103 

The  invasion  of  the  Powder  River  Country 
went  on,  in  almost  entire  ignorance  of  the  real 
sentiment  of  the  Indians.  The  troops  sent  were 
numerous,  but  poorly  equipped  for  Indian  hostili 
ties.  On  the  morning  after,  a  large  command 
reached  Fort  Reno,  167  miles  northwest  of  Fort 
L,aramie,  the  very  peacefully  inclined  Sioux 
ran  off  all  the  sutler's  horses  and  mules.  They 
were  pursued  without  effect.  Soon  after,  the 
troops  that  had  reached  Piney  Creek  were  ordered 
off,  with  notice  that  Fort  Reno  would  not  be  dis 
turbed,  but  that  no  other  fort  could  be  built  in 
the  country.  Notwithstanding  this  notice  the 
foundations  of  Fort  Phil.  Kearney  were  laid  on 
Piney  Creek.  While  at  work  on  this  fort,  the 
herd  of  the  builders  was  stampeded,  and  the 
party  sent  in  pursuit  was  surrounded  by  Indians 
and  driven  back  with  a  loss  of  two  soldiers  killed 
and  three  wounded.  On  the  same  day  Indians 
attacked  the  trading  post  of  "  French  Pete,  " 
who  had  married  a  Sioux  wife,  and  killed  the  en 
tire  party  of  six  men.  In  the  ten  days  following, 
five  emigrant  trains  were  attacked  and  fifteen 
men  murdered.  A  great  quantity  of  stock  was 
run  off  from  under  the  guns  of  Fort  Reno. 

Colonel  Carrington  now  began  to  find  out  that 
the  Indians  were  in  earnest,  and  he  sent  for  re-in- 
forcements.  Two  companies  of  regular  cavalry 


104          WARS  WITH  OGAU,ALLAS  AND  CROWS. 

were  ordered  from  Fort  Laramie  and  a  regiment 
of  infantry  from  St.  Louis.  Meanwhile  the  In 
dians  kept  np  their  depredations,  killing  emi 
grants,  running  off  stock,  pillaging  posts  and 
camps.  The  building  of  Fort  Phil.  Kearney  was 
also  going  on  on  an  elaborate  plan  and  amid 
great  difficulties.  It  was  inclosed  in  October, 
1866,  and  was  one  of  the  largest  forts  in  the 
northwest,  being  860  feet  long  by  600  wide,  sur 
rounded  by  a  stockade  nearly  double  in  size. 
The  proposed  new  road  to  Montana  crossed  the 
Big  Piney  just  above  the  fort.  Carrington  was 
sent  out  to  build  forts  and  he  constructed  this 
one,  with  his  men  under  constant  guard,  though 
he  seemingly  neglected  to  ascertain  the  exact 
state  of  things  about  him  by  means  of  trained 
scouting  parties.  Some  of  his  best  men  were 
captured  in  the  woods  and  never  afterwards 
heard  tell  of. 

The  Indians  grew  bolder,  as  soldiers  were 
forced  to  play  carpenter.  Now,  they  attacked  the 
the  wood  trains,  and  then  rode  tantalizingly  up  to 
the  fort  and  challenged  the  soldiers  to  fight.  In  Nov 
ember  one  company  of  cavalry  arrived,  and  Col 
onel  Fetterman  became  anxious  for  a  fight.  On 
December  6th,  the  wood  train  was  attacked  two 
miles  from  the  fort,  and  forced  to  corral  for  defence. 
Fetterman  was  sent  with  a  force  of  infantry  and 


WARS  WITH  OGALIvAIJvAS  AND  CROWS.  105 

cavalry  to  attack  the  Indians  and  drive  them 
across  Lodge  Tail  Ridge.  Carrington  went  with 
a  small  force  of  mounted  infantry  back  of  the 
Ridge  to  intercept  the  Indians  on  Peno  Creek. 
Fetterman  made  his  attack  and  routed  the  Indians 
whom  he  pursued  for  about  five  miles.  They 
then  faced  about  and  returned  the  attack  on  Fet- 
terman's  troops.  His  cavalry  fled,  leaving  him 
with  a  mere  handful  of  men  to  face  a  hundred 
Indian  warriors.  Fortunately  Carrington's  force 
came  up  and  the  Indians  retired.  Their  retreat 
was  a  ruse,  for  Lieutenant  Bingham  and  two 
or  three  others  who  pursued  an  unmounted  Indian 
for  two  miles,  fell  into  an  ambush  and  were  killed. 
Red  Cloud  commanded  this  Indian  force  in  per 
son.  He  had  a  system  of  watches  and  signals  on 
the  hills,  and  had,  no  doubt,  prepared  this  ambus 
cade  for  the  entire  force  of  whites. 

On  December  21, 1866,  a  force  of  90  men  started 
into  the  woods  to  obtain  timber  for  the  fort.  At 
ii  A.  M.,  the  look-out  was  signalled,  "Woods  full 
of  Indians.  Train  attacked  and  coralled.  Send 
relief."  Colonel  Fetterman  was  placed  in  charge 
of  a  relief  party.  Lieutenant  Grummond  took 
the  cavalry  portion  in  hand.  The  entire  party 
footed  up  84  men.  It  moved  rapidly  along  the 
slope  of  Lodge  Trail  Ridge  and  deployed.  The 
Indians  abandoned  their  attack  on  the  wood  train, 


Io6  WARS  WITH  OGAIvLAtlvAS  AND  CROWS. 

and  attacked  Fetterman  who  fought  his  way  over 
the  ridge  and  into  the  Valley  of  Peno  Creek.  The 
firing  was  rapid  and  continuous,  giving  evidence 
at  the  fort  of  a  hard  battle.  Colonel  Carrington 
grew  anxious,  and  ordered  the  men  of  the  wood 
train  to  fight  their  way  over  the  ridge  to  Fetter- 
man's  relief.  They  tried  to  do  so  but  were  driven 
back.  Another  force  of  76  men  was  sent  out 
from  the  fort  under  Captain  Ten  Eyck.  It  hast 
ened  to  the  ridge  to  find  the  firing  slacking  as 
though  one  side  were  giving  way.  Looking  over 
the  summits  of  the  ridge  into  Peno  Valley  it  was 
found  to  be  full  of  exultant  savages  who  challenged 
the  new  comers  to  attack.  Word  was  sent  back 
to  the  fort  for  a  howitzer,  which  did  not  come. 
Presently,  Ten  Eyck  noticed  that  the  Indians 
were  withdrawing  from  the  valley  on  their  own 
account.  Venturing  down,  he  found  that  Fetter- 
man's  command  had  been  driven  onto  a  knoll  and 
surrounded.  Within  a  space  of  about  forty  feet 
square  lay  the  bodies  of  Colonel  Fetterman, 
Captain  Brown  and  65  men,  stripped  naked, 
scalped  and  mangled  beyond  description.  They 
had,  evidently,  been  surrounded  by  greatly  su 
perior  numbers  and  shot  down  at  close  range. 
What  had  become  of  the  rest  of  the  command  ? 
Next  day  a  party  was  sent  out  to  ascertain  their 
fate.  A  quarter  of  a  mile  beyond  the  pile  of  dead 


WARS  WITH  OGALLAIyLAS  AND  CROWS.  107 

in  the  valley  was  found  the  dead  body  of  Lieuten 
ant  Grummond,  and  still  father,  the  bodies  of  other 
officers  and  men,  scalped  and  mutilated  as  before. 
The  extermination  of  Fetterman's  command  had 
been  complete.  The  victorious  Indians  were  said 
to  number  2,000  warriors  made  up  of  various  dis 
satisfied  tribes — Ogallallas,  Brules,  Crows,  Ar- 
rapahoes,  Cheyennes,  &c.,  though  the  above 
number  is  more  likely  to  embrace  all  who  were 
on  the  war-path  at  the  time  than  the  number 
actually  engaged  in  the  attack.  They  reported  a 
loss  equal  to  that  of  the  whites. 

This  tragedy  filled  the  land  with  murmurs  of 
rage  against  the  Indians  and  of  disapproval  of 
the  military  management  which  had  made  it 
possible.  General  Grant  ordered  an  investi 
gation,  the  general  conclusions  of  which  were 
that  a  mighty  blunder  had  been  committed  but 
by  whom  and  precisely  when  and  how,  nobody 
could  find  out.  Carrington  was  removed  and 
was  succeeded  by  General  Wessels.  About  this 
time  Fort  Buford,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Yellow 
stone  was  attacked  by  Red  Cloud,  and  the  report 
was  that  its  garrison  was  massacred  entire.  But 
it  seemed  that  one  company  of  cavalry  was  spared 
who  had  beaten  off  the  attack-  Wessels  tried  a 
winter  campaign  with  no  good  results.  In  the 
spring  of  1867,  Man-afraid-of-his-horses  and  other 


io8  WARS  WITH  OGALI^AIvLAS  AND  CROWS. 

chiefs  wanted  to  reform  and  join  Spotted-Tail's 
friendly  Brules.  But  as  their  only  excuse  was 
that  they  wanted  powder  for  hunting,  they  were 
not  treated  with,  and  hostilities  were  kept  up  all 
summer,  the  troops  on  the  Montana  road  having 
to  fight  for  their  wood  and  water.  In  August, 
Major  Powells  guard  was  attacked  by  a  large 
force  of  Indians  and  driven  in  upon  his  reserve 
of  30  men  stationed  behind  an  improvised  fort 
ress  made  of  their  iron  wagon  beds.  These 
troops  were  well  armed  with  breech-loaders  and 
had  plenty  of  ammunition.  They  picked  off  the 
Indians  in  such  numbers  that  they  drew  off  and 
fell  back  to  the  hills,  where  they  were  joined  by 
Red  Cloud's  main  body,  estimated  at  1200  war 
riors.  The  attack  was  renewed  with  determi 
nation.  For  three  hours  the  corral  was  a  blaze 
of  fire  and  the  Indians  were  swept  away  by  whole 
sale.  The  closer  they  came  for  attack  the  more 
densely  they  had  to  mass,  and  therefore  the  surer 
the  fire  of  the  besieged.  They  could  stand  the 
withering  fire  no  longer  and  gave  way  in  flight. 
Their  loss  was  heavy  and  they  called  the  battle 
the  u  medicine  fight,"  because  they  thought  the 
whites  had  supernatural  assistance,  it  being  their 
first  taste  of  medicine  administered  by  the  deadly 
breech-loades.  The  loss  to  the  whites  was  but 
two  killed  and  two  wounded. 


WARS  WITH  OGALLAIvIyAS  AND  CROWS.  109 

In  the  fall  of  1867,  *ne  Indian  Commission 
decided  that  the  Government  had  no  right  to 
push  a  road  through  the  Powder  River  Country. 
The  Pacific  Railroad  was  under  way.  Army 
officers  and  the  country  were  anxious  to  see  it 
completed.  By  means  of  it  Montana  would  be 
more  accessible  than  by  the  Bozeman  route.  The 
Indians  favored  it  and  offered  a  right  of  way,  if 
the  Government  would  surrender  its  claims  to 
the  Powder  River  Country.  The  treaty  of  April 
29,  1868,  was  formed,  in  which  the  Powder  River 
Country  was  relinquished  to  the  Indians  and  a 
right  of  way  secured  for  the  Pacific  Railway. 
Red  Cloud  did  not  sign  this  treaty  till  the 
Government  actually  began  to  withdraw  its  troops 
from  the  line  of  the  Montana  road.  After  this 
was  accomplished  the  various  Sioux  tribes  took 
possession  of  the  country  and  demolished  the 
chain  of  forts  which  had  cost  the  country  such 
enormous  treasure*  to  build  and  so  many  precious 
lives  to  defend.  This  treaty,  like  all  others 
with  the  Indians,  was  not  destined  to  stand.  A 
few  years  later,  it  was  ascertained  that  the  Gov 
ernment  had  surrendered  rights  which  were  too 
precious  and  that  it  would  pay  to  go  over  the 
same  ground  again. 


CHAPTER  XII. 
THE  PIEGAN  PUNISHMENT. 

THE  seats  of  the  Black-Feet  tribes  were  about 
Lake  Winnepeg.     Strife  among  them  led 
to   the  secession  of  a  large  number  under 
the  lead  of  Piegan,  or  Pheasant,  and   his 
name   passed  to   them.     Coming  south  into  the 
territory  of    the  United   States,    his  supporters 
were   augmented  by  other  dissatisfied  Black-Feet, 
Bloods    and   Gros  Ventres,  so  that  they  became 
a  formidable  tribe. 

They  are  a  tall,  well  formed  people  with  con 
siderable  prowess  as  warriors.  Their  govern 
ment  is  complicated,  being  composed  of  seven 
classes,  running  down  through  chiefs,  priests, 
legislators,  hunters,  warriors,  to  the  lowest  ranks. 
They  are  sun-worshippers,  and  the  sun  dance  is 
the  most  palpable  manifestation  of  their  religious 
emotion.  They  have  figured  in  encyclopedias 
and  dime  novels  as  a  treacherous,  blood-thirsty 
people,  always  at  enmity  with  the  whites  and 
tireless  in  their  depredations  upon  them.  Much 
of  this  is  exaggeration.  In  1853,  they  did  not 


THE  PIEGAN  PUNISHMENT.  in 

hesitate  to  meet  Governor  Stevens  in  council,  and 
his  report  was  that  their  disposition  was  undoubt 
edly  friendly.  At  that  time  the  Bloods  and  Black- 
Feet  were  on  Milk  River,  the  Piegans  between  the 
Milk  and  the  Missouri,  and  Gros  Ventres  on  the 
Missouri  below  the  mouth  of  Milk  River.  In 
1855  all  the  tribes  of  the  Upper  Missouri,  including 
those  mentioned  above,  met  Governor  Stevens  in 
council,  as  had  been  agreed  upon  two  years  be 
fore,  and  not  only  promised  peace  among  one 
another  but  with  the  United  States.  A  common- 
hunting  ground  was  mapped  out,  white  travellers 
were  to  be  protected,  and  the  Government  was 
conceded  the  right  to  make  roads  anywhere. 
Annuities  were  promised  the  Indians,  and  the 
help  of  the  whites  in  promoting  their  civiliza 
tion. 

Ten  years  of  peace  passed.  The  Indians  tried 
agriculture,  but  the  country  was  too  dry.  Their 
annuities  were  either  never  paid  or  were  frittered 
away.  There  came  no  promised  schools  and  none 
of  the  blessings  of  civilization.  The  discovery 
of  gold  in  the  borders  of  the  Blackfoot  Country 
in  1862-1863  attracted  thither  a  mob  of  white 
miners  who  increased  the  value  of  their  finds  by 
selling  whisky  to  the  Indians.  In  1864 the  Black- 
Feet  offered  to  help  General  Sully  to  whip  the 
Sioux.  In  the  same  year  the  Bloods  and  trap- 


112  THE  PIEGAN  PUNISHMENT. 

pers  were  at  war,  and  the  Bloods  forgot  about 
their  treaties  and  carried  their  horse  stealing  to 
Fort  Benton,  demolishing  the  Sun  River  Agri 
cultural  Farm.  The  enmity  of  the  whites  ex 
tended  to  the  Piegans,  and  it  was  given  out  that 
all  the  Black-Feet  nation,  except  the  Gros  Ventres, 
was  at  war  openly  or  secretly.  A  militia  organ 
ization  was  formed  against  them,  but  it  never 
rose  above  the  dignity  of  a  vigilance  committee. 
In  1866  the  restored  buildings  at  Sun  River 
farm  were  burned,  and  the  arson  was  blamed  on 
the  Piegans,  for  the  reason  that  they  had  mur 
dered  their  Chief,  Little  Dog,  because  he  had 
restored  some  stolen  horses  to  the  whites.  In 
1866-67,  theselndians,  in  common  with  all  others 
whose  living  depended  on  the  chase,  suffered 
from  want  of  ammunition  and  supplies,  they 
having  been  withheld  by  the  Government  on 
account  of  the  war  with  the  Sioux  tribes  on  the 
Montana  road.  Yet  there  was  no  outbreak  in 
1867.  In  1868,  the  white  population  around 
Fort  Benton  began  outrages  which  were  well  cal 
culated  to  excite  the  Indians  to  war.  After  the 
Piegans  had  signed  the  treaty  of  that  year,  their 
leader,  Mountain  Chief,  was  shot  at  by  two 
white  men,  which  dastardly  act  incensed  the 
tribe  to  revenge,  especially  after  their  efforts  to 
have  the  culprits  punished  by  law  failed  entirely. 


THE  PIEGAN  PUNISHMENT.  113 

They  raided  Diamond  City  and  stole  80  horses. 
Commissioner  Cullen  seized  18  Piegans  and  held 
them  till  the  horses  were  returned. 

The  year  1869  showed  a  worse  state  of  feeling. 
The  Indians  revenged  themselves  on  the  whites 
for  their  lawlessness  by  stealing  their  horses  and 
running  them  over  the  Canadian  borders,  where 
they  found  ready  sale  for  them.  General  Sully 
reported  the  situation  as  desperate  and  said : 
<(  Nothing  will  prevent  a  general  outbreak  of  the 
Indians  except  a  sufficient  force  to  clear  the 
country  of  roughs  and  whisky  sellers." 

The  Piegans,  still  smarting  under  the  insult 
to  their  Chief,  were  sympathized  with  by  Red 
Horn,  Bear  Chief  and  others.  The  depredations, 
which  consisted  largely  of  horse-stealing  raids, 
now  turned  into  mutual  surprises  and  murders, 
in  which  whites  and  reds  drew  on  their  dev 
ilish  ingenuity  to  the  uttermost.  Emigrant 
trains  were  attacked  ;  ranches  were  broken  up, 
murders  were  a  matter  of  almost  daily  occurrence, 
and  for  every  murder  of  a  white,  two  Indians  had 
to  pay  the  penalty  with  their  lives.  The  Clarke 
massacre,  near  Helena,  intensified  the  excite 
ment  and  seemed  to  justify  a  call  for  the  military, 
but  General  Sully  thought  matters  would  right 
themselves.  In  December,  a  marauding  party 
struck  a  party  of  hunters  in  Sun  River  valley, 


ii4  THE  PIEGAN  PUNISHMENT. 

and  a  violent  fight  ensued.  It  was  resolved  to 
strike  back  at  once,  but  the  great  difficiilty  was 
to  distinguish  between  friendly  and  hostile 
Indians,  a  matter  the  settlers  had  never  been  very 
particular  about.  Indeed  it  had  became  a  habit 
to  blame  every  crime  on  the  Piegans  and  to  pun 
ish  them  for  every  deed  committed  by  roving 
bands.  The  camps  of  Heavy  Runner,  Big  Leg, 
Little  Wolf  and  The  Boy  were  selected  as  friendly, 
and  were  to  remain  undisturbed.  The  camps  of 
Mountain  Chief,  Bear  Chief  and  Red  Horn  were 
to  be  struck,  as  hostile. 

Colonel  Baker  left  Fort  Ellis  in  January,  1870, 
with  four  companies  of  cavalry.  He  was  re-in- 
forced  at  Fort  Shaw  with  two  companies  of  mount 
ed  infantry,  and  pushed  his  way  north  on  the 
1 9th,  marching  only  at  night  to  insure  secrecy. 
On  the  23rd,  they  reached  the  camp  of  Bear 
Chief  and  Red  Horn.  Their  attack  was  a  com 
plete  surprise.  Over  300  ponies,  their  entire 
herd,  was  captured,  and  173  Indians,  including 
Red  Horn,  were  killed.  Only  nine  Indians  es 
caped,  all  the  rest,  men,  women  and  children,  fell 
into  the  list  of  killed  and  captured.  Colonel 
Baker  went  in  search  of  Mountain  Chief's  camp, 
but  found  only  seven  deserted  lodges  on  the  site. 
The  troops  then  proceeded  to  the  camps  of  the 
Blood  chiefs  where  they  demanded  all  the  horses 


THE  PIEGAN  PUNISHMENT.  115 

and  other  property  they  had  stolen.  They  then 
returned  to  their  quarters,  wearing  the  laurels  of 
soldiers  who  had  tracked  the  hostiles  to  their  lair 
in  the  dead  of  winter,  surprised  a  camp  stricken 
with  small  pox,  killed  173  of  its  occupants,  far 
more  than  half  of  whom  were  women  and  child 
ren. 

This  attack  created  great  excitement  in  the 
East,  where  it  was  regarded  as  a  barbarous  ex 
hibition  of  force.  The  matter  found  its  way  into 
congress  and  gave  rise  to  many  acrimonious  de 
bates.  Censure  was  extended  clear  along  the 
lines  up  to  the  commanding  officer  of  the  District, 
and  then  it  took  a  political  turn,  some  holding 
Sheridan  responsible  and  others  General  Han 
cock. 

Though  Mountain  Chief  and  perhaps  the  worst 
of  the  Piegan  offenders  escaped  this  terrible 
visitation,  they  have  not  proved  so  troublesome 
since.  Only  in  1885  were  they  reported  as 
dangerously  discontented,  chiefly  because  of  crop 
failures  and  inadequate  rations.  In  nearly  all 
cases  the  country  reserved  for  these  northern 
tribes  is  unfit  for  cultivation.  A  white  man 
would  starve  on  it.  The  Indian  is  expected  to 
change  his  customs,  go  to  work,  and  live,  where 
life  is  impossible.  Verily  the  exactions  of  the 
white,  the  civilized,  the  christianized  peoples  are 


n6 


THE  PIEGAN  PUNISHMENT. 


hard.  Their  code  of  meum  and  teum  seems  like 
a  wide  departure  from  that  divine  summary  of 
law  "  Do  unto  others  as  ye  would  that  others 
should  do  unto  you." 


CHAPTER  XIII. 
MODOC  AND  LAVA  BED. 

THE  Modoc  tribe  are  an  offshoot  of  the  Kla- 
maths.  They  occupied  the  country  known 
as  "  Lost  River  Basin,"  and  covering  por 
tions  of  the  old  Government  road  to  Oregon 
and  California.  Their  first  difficulty  was  with 
emigrants,  and,  according  to  the  Modocs,  it  grew 
out  of  the  efforts  of  the  emigrants  to  recapture 
horses  found  in  their  possession,  which  they  claimed 
they  had  purchased  from  the  Snake  and  Pitt  River 
Indians.  Hostilities  once  begun,  continued  at 
intervals,  during  which  time  many  Modocs  were 
killed  and  many  emigrants  were  cruelly  butch 
ered.  Perhaps  the  most  revolting  of  the  many 
scenes  was  the  massacre  of  seventy-five  whites  in 
1852.  This  terrible  tragedy  called  out  a  company 
of  volunteers  for  the  protection  of  emigrants. 
Under  the  command  of  Ben.  Wright,  of  Yreka, 
Cal,  they  arrived  on  Tule  Lake,  at  Bloody 
Point  the  scene  where  the  seventy-five  whites 
were  butchered.  They  tried  to  engage  the 
Modocs  in  a  fair  battle,  but  failing  in  this  pro 
posed  a  "peace  talk"  which  was  finally  accepted, 


117 


ii8  MODOC  AND  LAVA  BED. 

and  forty-six  Modoc  warriors  responded,  and  were 
by  him  and  his  company  attacked  and  forty-one 
of  them  slain.  The  Modoc  people  have  always 
remembered  this  act  of  treachery  which  had  much 
to  do  in  perpetuating  the  bitter  feelings  that  have 
since  existed,  and  doubtless  had  influence  in  the 
assassination  of  General  Canby  and  Dr.  Thomas. 
Had  Ben  Wright  been  held  to  account  for  this 
unauthorized  act,  it  would  have  done  much  to 
secure  the  confidence  of  the  Modocs  and  the 
tribes  as  well.  But  instead  of  this  he  was 
received  with  great  demonstrations,  bonfires  and 
banquets,  and  was  afterwards  appointed  an  Indian 
agent  as  a  reward  for  this  heroic  act  of  treachery 
to  a  trusting  people,  and  a  violation  of  the  sacred 
rights  of  a  flag  of  truce. 

Hostilities  continued  until  1864,  when  a  tem 
porary  treaty  was  made.  In  the  same  year,  on 
the  I4th  of  October,  Superintendent  Huntington 
of  Oregon,  under  authority  of  the  General 
Government,  held  a  treaty  council  at  Council 
Grove,  near  Fort  Klamath,  with  the  Modocs  and 
Klamath  Indians,  when  all  the  country  claimed 
by  these  tribes  was  ceded  to  the  Government, 
except  so  much  as  may  be  embraced  within  the 
boundaries  of  what  is  known  as  Klamath  reser 
vation,  upon  which  they  agreed  and^bound  them 
selves  to  locate  immediately  after  the  ratification 


MODOC  AND  LAVA  BED.  119 

of  treaty.  Captain  Jack  (Kient-poos) ,  and  other 
members  of  the  Modoc  tribe  signed  the  treaty  in 
the  presence  of  witnesses.  They  remained  on 
the  reservation  several  months,  accepting  goods 
and  subsistence  in  conformity  with  the  treaty 
and  finally  left  returning  to  the  Modoc  country. 
They  ignored  the  treaty  and  refused  to  return  to 
the  reservation  until  December,  1869.  This 
time  they  remained  on  the  reservation  until 
April,  1870,  and  then  left  for  their  camp  on  Lost 
River.  Captain  Jack  and  his  band  were  prepared 
at  this  time  to  remain  upon  the  reservation,  and 
settle  down  in  the  way  of  civilization,  if  there 
had  been  ordinary  encouragement  and  assistance, 
and  if  the  Klamaths,  who  largely  outnumbered 
Captain  Jack's  band,  and  who  were  their  heredi 
tary  enemies,  had  allowed  them  to  do  so.  This 
band  began  to  split  rails  for  their  farms,  and  in 
other  ways  to  adopt  civilized  habits ;  but  the 
Klamaths  demanded  tribute  from  them  for  the 
land  they  were  occupying,  which  the  Modocs 
were  obliged  to  render.  They  also  began  to 
taunt  the  Modocs,  calling  them  "  strangers, 
orphans,  poor  men,"  and  annoyed  them  in 
various  ways,  claiming  the  reservation  as  exclu 
sively  their  own.  Captain  Jack  appealed  to 
Captain  Knapp,  the  agent,  for  protection  from 
these  insults.  At  the  agent's  suggestion  they 


P20  MODOC  AND  LAVA  BED. 

removed  to  another  part  of  thejreservation  and 
began  again  to  try  to  live  by  cultivating  the 
ground.  But  here  also  they  were  followed  by 
the  same  spirit  of  hostility  by  the  Klamaths, 
from  which  they  do  not  seem  to  have  been  pro 
tected  by  the  agent.  The  issue  of  rations  seems 
also  to  have  been  suspended  for  want  of  funds, 
and  for  these  reasons  Captain  Jack  and  his  band 
returned  to  their  old  home  on  Lost  River,  where 
they  became  a  serious  annoyance  to  the  whites, 
who  had  in  the  meanwhile  settled  on  their  ceded 
lands. 

Renewed  petitions  for  their  removal  called  the 
attention  of  Superintendent  Odeneal  to  the  sub 
ject,,  who,  laying  the  matter  before  the  Commis 
sioner  of  Indian  Affairs  at  Washington,  was 
instructed  under  date  of  April  1872,  to  have  the 
Modocs  removed  to  the  Klamath  reservation  and 
to  protect  them  from  the  Klamaths.  The  super 
intendent  sent  messengers  to  the  Modoc  camp  on 
the  26th  of  November,  1872,  to  order  them  to 
return  to  the  reservation,  and  in  the  event  of  a 
refusal  on  their  part  to  arrange  for  a  meeting 
with  them  at  Link  River,  twenty-five  miles  from 
the  Modoc  camp. 

They  refused  compliance  with  the  order,  and  also 
refused  to  meet  Superintendent  Odeneal,  at  Link 
River,  saying  substantially,  "that  they  did  not 


MODOC  AND  LAVA  BED.  12i 

* 

want  to  see  him  or  talk  with  him ;  that  they  did 
not  want  any  white  man  to  tell  them  what  to  do ; 
that  they  intended  to  remain  where  they  were 
and  would  not  go  to  the  •Klamath  reservation ; 
that  they  were  tired  of  talking  and  were  done 
talking." 

Upon  receiving  Captain  Jack's  insolent  reply 
to  his  message,  the  superintendent  made  applica 
tion  to  the  military  commander  at  Fort  Klatnath 
for  a  force  to  "compel  the  Modocs  to  go  upon  the 
Klamath  reservation ;"  giving  as  an  authority 
the  following  words  from  the  Commissioner  of 
Indian  Affairs : — "You  are  hereby  directed  to 
remove  the  Modoc  Indians  to  Klamath  reserva 
tion,  peacably,  if  you  possibly  can,  but  forcibly 
if  you  must."  He  transferred  the  whole  matter 
to  Major  John  Green  commanding  the  Post,  with 
the  hope  that  he  might  accomplish  the  object 
desired  without  the  shedding  of  blood,  if  possible 
to  avoid  it. 

In  compliance  with  this  request  Captain  Jack 
son,  with  about  thirty  men,  left  Fort  Klamath  on 
November  28th,  1872.  They  arrived  at  the 
Modoc  camp  on  the  morning  of  the  29th  and 
obtained  an  interview,  during  which  he  used 
every  argument  in  his  power  to  induce  them  to 
go.  He  informed  them  that  ample  provision  had 
been  made  for  food  and  clothing,  and  that  they 


I22  MODOC  AND  LAVA  BED. 

would  be  protected  from  the  annoyances  of  the 
Klamaths.  He  also  assured  them  of  the  folly  of 
resistance  to  the  orders  of  the  Government. 
Finding  his  efforts  unavailing,  he  ordered  them 
to  "lay  down  their  arms."  This  order  had  been 
partially  obeyed  and  -prospects  were  that  no 
serious  trouble  would  ens:?e,  until  the  demand 
was  made  of  "Scai  ta?eJ  Charlie"  to  surrender, 
who  refused  compliance,  and  Jackson  ordered  an 
officer  to  disarm  him.  H^  advanced  to  perform 
the  duty  with  pistol  drawn,  when  both  the  officer 
and  Scar-faced  Charlie  discharged  their  arms,  but 
so  nearly  simultaneously  that  it  is  a  matter  of 
doubt  who  fired  the  first  shot.  A  general  engage 
ment  then  ensued  between  Jackson's  forces  and 
the  Modocs  in  the  camp  on  the  west  side  of  Lost 
River,  composed  of  Captain  Jack  and  some 
twelve  or  fifteen  other  warriors  with  families.  At 
this  point  Lost  River  is  a  deep  stream,  three  hun 
dred  feet  wide,  dividing  the  Modoc  camp. 

While  Captain  Jack  with  his  band  occupied  the 
west  bank,  ten  other  warriors  with  their  families 
occupied  the  east  side.  While  Jackson's  forces 
were  taking  position  around  Captain  Jack's  Camp, 
a  number  of  citizens  had  also  taken  a  position 
commanding  the  camp  on  the  east  side,  and  when 
the  former  engaged  in  battle  with  Captain  Jack's 


MODOC  AND  LAVA  BED.  123 

band  on  the  west  side,  the  latter  soon  engaged  in 
battle  with  those  on  the  east  side. 

The  Modocs  kept  up  the  war  during  the 
winter,  and  then  retreated  into  an  almost  inacces 
sible  volcanic  region  called  the  Lava  Beds.  Here, 
in  the  spring  of  1873,  the  Modocs  were  surrounded 
but  not  subdued.  In  January,  1873,  a  commis 
sion  had  been  appointed  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
Interior  to  inquire  into  the  causes  of  the  difficul 
ties,  and  to  procure,  if  possible,  a  peaceable  solu 
tion  of  them.  This  commission,  as  finally  com 
posed,  consisted  of  A.  B.  Meacham,  L.  S.  Dyar 
and  Rev.  Dr.  Thomas,  and  by  the  direction  of  the 
Secretary  of  the  Interior,  under  date  of  March  22 , 
1873,  they  were  put  under  the  direction  of  General 
Canby.  On  the  nth  of  April,  a  conference  was 
held  with  Captain  Jack  and  other  representative 
men  of  the  tribe,  but  in  the  midst  of  the  council 
the  treacherous  savages  rose  upon  the  kind-heart 
ed  men  who  sat  beside  them,  and  murdered  Gen 
eral  Canby  and  Dr.  Thomas  in  cold  blood.  Mr. 
Meacham  was  also  shot  and  stabbed  but  escaped 
with  his  life.  General  Canby  fell  a  victim  to  a 
bullet  from  Captain  Jack's  pistol.  Boston 
Charley  first  shot  Dr.  Thomas,  and  Bogus 
Charley  completed  the  murder  by  shooting  him 
with  a  rifie  as  he  was  trying  to  escape. 


124  MODOC  AND  LAVA  BED. 

When  this  commission  went  out  from  Gillam's 
camp  to  meet  Capt.  Jack,  it  went  warned  of  pos 
sible  treachery,  and  the  officers  and  soldiers 
were  on  the  alert.  As  soon  as  they  heard  the 
firing  they  knew  what  was  np.  The  soldiers 
sprang  to  their  arms  and  ran  toward  the  Council 
tent.  They  found  the  dead  bodies  of  Canby  and  Dr. 
Thomas,  rescued  Meacham,  and  met  Dwyer  and 
Riddle  thoroughly  exhausted  by  their  efforts  to 
escape.  The  murderers  had  fled  back  into  the 
inaccessible  Lava  Beds. 

This  treachery  and  cruelty  made  the  Modocs 
objects  of  universal  execration.  Extermination 
of  the  tribe  was  now  an  ultimatum.  Gillem's 
entire  command  was  moved  forward  in  the  face 
of  a  stubborn  resistance  and  his  mortar  batteries 
were  trained  so  that  the  shells  could  reach  the 
Indian  caves.  For  two  entire  days  they  played 
on  these  hiding  places,  and  then  the  troops 
advanced  to  find  the  Indians  had  escaped  by  the 
rear,  through  a  deep  crevice  more  than  a  mile  in 
length.  The  troops  had  lost  six  killed  and  four 
teen  wounded  and  the  Indians  eleven  killed. 

The  Indians  took  a  new  position  four  miles 
south  of  their  old  haunt.  Captain  Thomas  started 
with  a  command  of  80  men  to  reconnoitre. 
While  stopping  for  luncheon,  fire  was  opened  on 
them  from  the  lava  ridges  around.  The  men 


MODOC  AND  LAVA  BED.  125 

became  panic  striken  and  rushed  about  regardless 
of  orders.  Lieutenant  Wright  reached  a  ridge 
on  the  the  west  with  one  company,  which  was 
quickly  decimated  by  bullets.  Lieutenent  Crans 
ton  reached  a  ridge  on  the  north  with  five  men  all 
%of  whom  perished.  The  main  body  followed 
Wright,  but  they  were  soon  cut  down  to  twenty 
men.  Captain  Thomas  exclaimed,  ( We  are 
surrounded,  let  us  die  like  brave  men !  "  They 
sheltered  themselves  as  well  as  they  could  be 
hind  the  rocks,  but  the  Indians  knew  all  the 
by-paths  well,  and  could  introduce  flank  firing 
without  danger  to  themselves.  To  add  to  the 
horror  of  the  situation,  a  scout  of  Warm  Spring 
Indians  which  came  up  to  the  rescue  of  the  troops, 
was  mistaken  for  Modocs  and  fired  upon  by  the 
whites,  and  their  succor  was  thus  prevented. 
Meanwhile  Major  Green  "was  hastening  to  the 
scene  with  all  the  available  forces.  They  reached 
it  in  time  to  save  but  few  of  the  defeated  troops. 
Captain  Thomas,  and  Lieutenants  Howe,  Wright 
and  Cranston  were  dead.  Lieutenant  Harris  was 
mortally  wounded.  Eighteen  dead  and  seven 
teen  wounded  soldiers  were  found ;  the  rest  of 
the  soldiers  gradually  struggled  back  to  camp  to 
tell  dreadful  stories  of  panic  and  hair-breadth 
escapes. 


126  MODOC  AND  LAVA  BED. 

General  Jeff.  C.  Davis  succeeded  Canby.  He 
found  his  troops  so  dispirited  over  failures  and  loss 
es  as  to  make  a  prompt  movement  unwise.  The 
Modocs  inspired  fear  by  keeping  quiet.  No  one 
knew  behind  which  lava  ridge  they  were  crouch 
ing,  nor  what  rock  might  send  forth  a  blast  of 
deadly  bullets.  At  length  the  Indian  scouts  re 
ported  the  capture  of  a  supply  train  by  Modocs, 
on  the  east  side  of  Tule  Lake.  A  company  of 
Cavalry  was  sent  after  them,  which  was  sur 
prised,  but  by  dint  of  hard  fighting  drove  off  the 
foe  and  pursued  it  back  into  the  Lava  Beds. 

Davis  hit  on  the  plan  of  forming  a  number  of 
little  camps  in  the  Lava  Beds,  sufficiently  near 
together  to  be  within  supporting  distance  of  one 
another,  and  sufficiently  numerous  to  keep  the 
attention  of  the  Indians  distracted.  If  they 
attempted  to  surround  one,  they  would  be  within 
range  of  another.  Owing  to  the  small  number 
of  the  Indians  this  worked  great  hardship  to 
them.  The  Modoc  Camp,  morever,  became  dis 
cordant  within.  Hooker  Jim  and  Jack  quarrelled, 
and  their  bands  separated,  both  leaving  the  Lava 
Beds.  Hooker  Jim's  party  was  pursued  for  fifty 
miles,  the  entire  way  being  a  series  of  skirmishes. 
At  length  it  was  run  down  and  forced  to  sur 
render.  Then  Hooker  Jim,  Bogus  Charley  ? 
Shack-nasty  Jim  and  Steamboat  Frank,  volun- 


MODOC  AND  LAVA  BED.  127 

teered  to  go  as  scouts  to  find  Captain  Jack  and 
secure  his  surrender.  They  found  him  on  Wil 
low  Creek,  but  he  would  die  with  his  gun  in  his 
hand  rather  than  surrender.  The  troops  were 
following  in  the  direction  taken  by  the  scouts, 
and  when  informed  of  the  position  of  Jack's  party 
and  of  his  refusal  to  surrender,  they  surrounded 
him  in  the  Willow  Creek  Canyon.  Boston 
Charley  came  out  with  seven  women  and  sur 
rendered,  Jack  and  the  rest  of  his  party  escaped 
by  running  down  the  canyon  they  were  pursued 
over  hill  and  through  canyon  to  the  bluffs  on 
Langell's  Valley.  Here  they  made  a  stand,  but 
as  the  soldiers  approached,  firing,  five  Indians 
rushed  forward  and  surrendered.  Jack,  with  the 
remaining  warriors  fled  in  the  night. 

There  was  another  hunt  after  Jack.  He  was 
again  scented  out  and  surrounded.  He  now  de 
sired  to  surrender.  Coming  out  of  his  haunt  and 
glaring  about  him  he  said  to  the  scouts  "My 
legs  have  given  out."  He  was  taken  to  the  camp 
near  Clear  Lake,  where  word  of  his  capture  was 
received  with  joy.  One  by  one  the  rest  of  his 
band  was  picked  up,  and  the  bloody  Modoc  war 
came  to  an  end.  The  loss  of  life  was  great 
measured  by  the  rank  and  importance  of  the 
killed,  though  in  numbers  it  was  not  large. 
Neither  was  it  great  on  the  part  of  the  Indians. 


128  MODOC  AND  LAVA  BED. 

But  the  war  cost  the  government  fully  half  a 
million  dollars. 

General  Davis  wanted  to  hang  half  a  score  of 
the  surrendered  Indians  without  trial ;  but  the 
Government  ordered  a  trial  by  a  Military  Com 
mission  at  Fort  Klamath.  Captain  Jack,  Schon- 
chin  John,  Black  Jim,  Boston  Charlie,  One-eyed 
Jim  and  Slolox  were  arraigned  for  murder.  Cap 
tain  Jack  made  "a  powerful  defence,  but  there 
could  be  but  one  result.  They  were  all  found 
guilty  and  sentenced  to  be  hanged.  Two  of 
them  had  their  sentences  changed  to  imprison 
ment  for  life ;  the  rest  were  executed  at  Fort 
Klamath,  October  3,  1873.  They  were  all  hang 
ed  from  one  long  scaffold,  which  they  mounted 
firmly  and  with  the  assurance  that  they  were 
"  ready  to  go  to  the  Great  Father."  The  Klamath 
Indians  to  the  number  of  500  witnessed  the 
execution.  They  had  done  much  to  instigate  the 
Modoc  uprising,  and  yet  were  their  chief  accusers. 

Several  of  the  Modocs,  held  as  prisoners,  were 
murdered.  The  rest  of  the  tribe  was  sent  east  to 
the  Quapaw  agency,  where  their  chief,  Bogus 
Charlie,  has  taught  them  industry  and  good  be 
havior.  A  few  of  the  very  worst  were  sent  to 
Fort  Marion,  in  Florida,  and  placed  in  training 
there.  They  became  converts  to  Christianity. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 
CUSTER  AND  THE  SIOUX. 

THE  Sioux  war  of  1876  "  was  dishonorable  to 
the   nation,  and  disgraceful   to  those   who 
originated  it."     Such  is  the  language  of  the 
Commissioners,  appointed  to   negotiate  for 
the  surrender  of  the    Black   Hills   and  unceded 
Indian  country,  defined  in  the   treaty  of  1868,  in 
their  report  to  the  President  made  on  the   i8th 
day  of  December,  1876. 

By  the  treaty  of  1868,  it  will  be  remembered, 
there  was  set  apart  for  the  absolute  and  undis 
turbed  use  of  the  Sioux,  for  their  permanent 
home,  all  that  part  of  Dakota  lying  south  of  par 
allel  46  and  east  of  the  Missouri  River,  together 
with  the  reservations  on  the  east  side  of  the  Mis 
souri  and  the  country  lying  north  of  the  North 
Platte  River  and  east  of  the  summit  of  the  Big 
Horn  Mountains.  According  to  the  terms  of  the 
treaty  this  reservation  "  is  set  apart  for  the  abso 
lute  and  undisturbed  use  and  occupation  of 
the  Indians  herein  named  and  for  such  other 
friendly  tribes  or  individual  Indians  as  from  time 


129 


ISO  CUSTER  AND  THE  SIOUX. 

to  time  they  may  be  willing,  with  the  consent  of 
the  United  States,  to  admit  amongst  them ;  and 
the  United  States  now  solemnly  agrees  that  no 
persons,  except  those  therein  designated  and  au 
thorized  so  to  do,  and  except  such  officers,  agents 
and  employees  of  the  Government  as  may  be 
authorized  to  enter  upon  Indian  reservations  in 
discharge  of  duties  enjoined  by  law,  shall  ever  be 
permitted  to  pass  over,  settle  upon,  or  reside  in 
the  territory  described  in  this  article,  or  in  such 
territory  as  may  be  added  to  this  reservation  for 
the  use  of  said  Indians."  Another  article  pro 
vides,  "  that  the  country  north  of  the  North 
Platte  and  east  of  the  Big  Horn  Mountains,  shall 
be  held  and  considered  uuceded  Indian  territory, 
and  the  United  States  also  stipulates  and  agrees 
that  no  white  person  or  persons  shall  be  per 
mitted  to  settle  upon  or  occupy  any  portion  of  the 
same,  or  without  the  consent  of  the  Indians  first 
had  and  obtained,  to  pass  through  the  same." 
The  Indians  on  their  part  agree  "  to  relinquish 
all  right  permanently  to  occupy  the  territory 
outside  of  their  reservation  as  defined  in  the 
treaty,  but  yet  reserve  the  right  to  hunt  on  any 
lands  north  of  the  North  Platte,  and  on  the  Re 
publican  fork  of  the  Smoky  Hill  River."  The 
United  States  also  agreed  to  abandon  the  Mon 
tana  road  with  all  the  forts  along  it.  It  was  left 


RED  CLOUD. 


CUSTER  AND  THE  SIOUX.  131 

to  the  Indians  to  choose  whether  they  would  be 
farmers  or  hunters.  To  the  farmers,  however,  a 
larger  annuity  would  be  given.  Owing  to  lack 
of  rain,  abundance  of  grasshoppers,  and  their  own 
inclination,  many  of  them  naturally  continued  to 
follow  the  chase. 

In  less  than  three  months  after  this  treaty  was 
ratified  and  proclaimed,  it  was  violated  by  the 
government.  On  June  2Oth,  1869,  General  Sher 
idan,  by  order  of  General  Sherman,  issued  the 
following  military  order :  "All  Indians,  when  on 
their  proper  reservations,  are  under  the  exclusive 
control  and  jurisdiction  of  their  agents  ;  they  will 
not  be  interfered  with  in  any  manner  by  the  mil 
itary  authority,  except  upon  requisition  of  the 
special  agent  resident  with  them,  his  superin 
tendent,  or  the  bureau  of  Indian  Affairs  at  Wash 
ington.  Outside  the  well  defined  limits  of  their 
reservations,  they  are  under  the  original  and  ex 
clusive  authority  of  the  military,  and  as  a  rule 
will  be  considered  hostile." 

Though  this  order  was  in  direct  violation  of 
certain  provisions  of  the  treaty  of  1868,  granting 
the  privilege  of  roaming  and  hunting  on  the 
unceded  Indian  country,  yet  it  was  inexorably 
executed,  the  Indians  were  attacked  and  punished 
whenever  they  could  be  found  by  the  military. 
The  Indians  could  not  understand  why  they 


I32  CUSTBR  AND  THE  SIOUX. 

should  be  thus  hunted,  harassed  and  punished  by 
the  soldiers,  since  they  were  only  exercising  a 
right  secured  to  them  by  the  treaty,  especially 
as  they  still  continued  to  receive  the  annuity 
granted  to  the  Indians  that  hunted  and  roamed. 
While  the  Sioux  were  punished  for  not  obeying 
a  military  order,  given  in  violation  of  the  treaty , 
the  whites  were  making  constant  incursions  upon 
their  territory. 

When  the  treaty  was  made  in  1868,  the  coun 
try  set  apart  for  the  Indians  was  supposed  to  be 
in  a  large  part  of  waste  and  barren  land.  But 
between  1868  and  1876,  when  war  was  declared 
against  the  Sioux,  many  and  great  changes  had 
taken  place.  These  changes  were  due  to  the 
settling  of  the  new  country,  adjacent  to  the  In 
dian  reservations,  opened  up  by  the  North  Pacific 
Railroad  and  numerous  minor  lines,  and  the 
"Black  Hills"  gold  fever.  Great  numbers  of 
these  settlers  began  to  look  with  longing  eyes 
towards  the  Black  Hills,  which  by  the  treaty  of 
1868  was  declared  to  be  an  inviolable  part  of  the 
Sioux  reservation.  Indians,  from  time  to  time, 
brought  in  gold  dust  and  nuggets  to  the  trading 
posts.  When  questioned,  they  admitted  that 
they  found  it  in  the  Black  Hills.  The  story 
spread  like  wild- fire  and  the  excitement  waxed 
high  in  the  west.  Parties  of  miners  began  to 


CUSTER  AND  THE;  sioux.  133 

organize  for  the  new  Eldorado  and  the  govern 
ment  was  petitioned  to  sanction  this  trespass. 
Notwithstanding  the  protests  of  the  Indians, 
numerous  expeditions  under  the  escort  and  pro 
tection  of  the  Military  were  made  into  the  Black 
Hills  and  other  parts  of  their  reservation. 
But  what  incensed  the  Sioux  most  was  the 
formidable  expedition  fitted  out  under  General 
Custer  in  the  Summer  of  1874.  This  strong  col 
umn  was  formed  with  the  avowed  purpose  of 
ascertaining  whether  gold  was  to  be  found  there. 
It  consisted  of  ten  companies  of  the  Seventh 
Cavalry,  Company  I,  Twentieth  Infantry  and 
Company  G,  Seventeenth  Infantry,  with  sixty 
Indian  scouts  and  four  Gatling  guns.  General 
Forsyth  was  with  the  column. 

There  was  little  or  no  danger  to  the  powerful 
column  either  real  or  apprehended.  It  started 
on  a  romantic  and  mysterious  expedition,  as  if 
for  a  picnic,  and  as  such  it  found  the  whole 
journey.  When  Custer  applied  for  Indian 
scouts,  who  were  Sioux,  to  accompany  the  ex 
pedition  they  were  very  much  surprised.  They 
hesitated  and  expressed  regret,  but  could  not  do 
otherwise  than  obey  the  summons.  Custer's  re 
ports  of  the  progress  of  this  expedition  was  given 
in  such  glowing  terms  that  those  who  heard  grew 
wild  with  excitement.  "Not  only  was  there  gold 


134  CUSTBR  AND  THB  SIOUX, 

to  be  found,  but  the  country  was  beautiful  beyond 
description  and  not  the  barren  waste  heretofore 
supposed. 

The  next  morning,  although  loath  to  leave  so 
enchanting  a  locality,  we  continued  to  ascend  this 
valley  until  gradually,  almost  imperceptibly,  we 
discovered  that  we  were  on  the  crest  of  the  west 
ern  ridge  of  the  Black  Hills  ;  and  instead  of  being 
among  barren,  rocky  peaks,  as  might  be  supposed, 
we  found  ourselves  wending  our  way  through  a 
little  park,  whose  natural  beauty  may  well  bear 
comparison  with  the  loveliest  portions  of  Central 
Park.  Favored  as  we  had  been  in  having  Floral 
Valley  for  our  roadway  to  the  west  of  the  Black 
Hills,  we  were  scarcely  less  fortunate  in  the  val 
ley,  which  seemed  to  me  to  meet  us  on  the  interior 
slope." 

This  expedition  remained  out  until  September, 
and  further  explorations  only  confirmed  Ouster's 
first  impressions.  Upon  its  return  a  full  report 
was  given  in  which  the  people  were  told  that  it 
was  a  "  goodly  land,"  beautiful  to  look  upon, 
abounding  in  good  water,  timber  and  grass.  Yes, 
and  gold  was  to  be  found  there.  It  was  this  con 
firmation  of  former  reports  that  kept  the  covetous 
eyes  of  the  whites  turned  towards  the  Black  Hills, 
and  more  mining  parties  were  organized  and 
started  for  them.  The  Northern  Pacific  Railroad, 


*i;l~f 


.  ^ 


STANDING  HOLIvY.     (Sitting  Bull's  Daughter.) 


CUSTBR  AND  THE  SIOUX.  135 

too,  changed  its  line  from  the  north  to  the  south 
side  of  the  Yellowstone  river 

This  change  was  very  objectionable  to  the 
nomad  Sioux,  they  claiming  that  it  was  in 
violation  of  the  treaty  of  1868,  and  that  it  fright 
ened  away  the  buffalo.  They  therefore  drove 
off  the  surveying  parties  who  attempted  to  run 
this  new  line.  Numerous  depredations  were 
committed  upon  the  Indians  by  the  white  rowdies, 
horse-theives,  and  scalawags,  who  congregate  in 
a  new  and  lawless  country.  They  also  preyed 
upon  the  white  settlers,  and  most  of  this  was 
credited  to  the  Indians.  Stock  was  taken  from 
the  Indians  and  by  the  Indians.  Blood  was 
shed  on  both  sides.  The  Indians  were  branded 
as  "  fiends  "  while  the  outlaws  who  preyed  upon 
both  white  and  Indians  were  termed  the  "  pio 
neers  of  the  frontier."  All  this  was  not  cal 
culated  to  soothe  the  savage  breast  and  make  it 
tender  and  loving  toward  the  white  man. 

Some  officers  who  did  not  accompany  the 
Custer  expedition  characterized  his  report  as 
baseless  and  exaggerated.  General  Hazen  des 
ignated  all  that  part  of  the  Northwest  as  a 
'*  Barren  Belt."  A  dispute  also  arose  among  the 
geologists,  as  to  the  mining  value  of  the  Black 
Hills.  Another  expedition  was  therefore  sent 
out  in  the  Summer  of  1875,  under  Professor 


136  CUSTER  AND  THE  SIOUX. 

Jenney,  with  a  military  escort  under  Lieutenant 
Colonel  Dodge.  They  entered  Floral  Valley  a 
month  earlier  than  Custer  had,  and  were  greeted 
by  a  violent  storm  of  sleet,  but  later  on  found 
both  soil  and  climate  congenial.  They  also 
found  the  country  full  of  miners,  contrary  to  the 
treaty  stipulations.  General  Crook  was  instructed 
to  order  them  to  leave. 

A  month  later,  on  August  10^  1875,  Red  Cloud 
said  to  Governor  Fletcher,  of  Missouri,  who  was 
at  the  Red  Cloud  agency :  "Now  as  to  those 
Black  Hills,  Our  Great  Father  has  got  a  great 
many  soldiers,  and  I  never  knew  him,  when  he 
wanted  to  stop  anything  with  his  soldiers,  but  he 
succeeded  in  it.  The  reason  I  tell  you  this,  is 
that  the  people  from  the  states  who  have  gone  to 
the  Black  Hills,  are  stealing  our  gold,  digging  it 
out  and  taking  it  away,  and  I  don't  see  why  the 
Great  Father  don't  bring  them  back.  To  this 
the  Governor  replied  : — "The  Great  Father  has 
ordered  these  people  away  from  there  in  five  days 
from  now,  and  if  they  do  not  go,  he  will  bring 
them  out  with  his  soldiers."  On  the  next  day, 
Sitting  Bull  said  : — "You  told  me  yesterday  that 
the  troops  would  take  all  the  white  people  away 
from  the  Black  Hills  by  the  I5th  of  August,  and 
the  young  men  were  all  very  glad  to  know  that 
these  miners  were  to  be  out  of  the  Black  Hills 


CUSTER  AND  THE  SIOUX.  137 

before  the  Northern  Indians  came  down  to  the 
grand  council."  In  reply  to  Sitting  Bull,  Gover 
nor  Fletcher  said  : — "I  saw  General  Crook,  and 
he  said  he  had  orders  from  the  President  to  get 
these  miners  all  out  by  the  I5th  of  this  month, 
and  the  miners  have  all  agreed  to  go  by  that 
time." 

General  Crook  went  to  the  hills  and  advised 
the  miners  to  leave.  Some  did  so  in  good  faith, 
others  went  away  to  return  again,  still  others 
doggedly  remained.  General  Crook  reported  that 
he  had  given  them  time  to  secure  themselves 
against  loss,  but  that  the  sentiment  was  strong 
against  removal.  They  charged  that  the  Indians 
violated  the  treaties  every  year  by  their  predatory 
incursions.  He  advised  that  steps  be  taken  to  se 
cure  a  cession  of  the  mining  regions  from  the  In 
dians.  If  this  was  not  done  there  would  surely 
be  trouble  when  the  miners  attempted  to  return. 

In  Nov.  1875,  E.  C.  Watkins,  Indian  Commis 
sioner,  reported  that  the  "Sioux  country  is  prob 
ably  the  best  hunting  ground  in  the  United 
States,  a  paradise  for  Indians,  affording  game  in 
such  variety  and  abundance  that  the  need  of 
government  supplies  is  not  felt.  Perhaps  for 
this  reason  they  have  never  accepted  aid  or  been 
brought  under  control.  They  openly  set  at  de 
fiance  all  law  and  authority,  and  boast  that  the 


138  CUSTER  AND  THE  SIOUX. 

United  States  are  not  strong  enough  to  conquer 
them.  The  troops  are  held  in  contempt,  and,  sur 
rounded  by  their  native  mountains,  relying  on 
their  knowledge  of  the  country  and  powerful  en 
durance,  they  laugh  at  the  futile  efforts  that  have 
thus  far  been  made  to  subjugate  them,  and  scorn 
the  idea  of  white  civilization.  They  are  lofty  and 
independent  in  their  attitude  and  language 
toward  the  government  officials,  as  well  as  the 
whites  generally,  and  claim  to  be  the  sovereign 
rulers  of  the  land.  They  say  they  own  the  wood, 
the  water,  the  ground,  the  air,  and  that  white  men 
live  in  or  pass  through  their  country  but  by  their 
sufferance.  They  are  rich  in  horses  and  robes, 
and  are  thoroughly  armed.  Nearly  every  warrior 
carries  a  breech  loading  gun,  a  pistol,  a  bow,  and 
a  quiver  of  arrows.  Inspector  Watkins  did  not 
seem  to  be  familiar  with  the  terms  of  the  treaty 
of  1868,  by  which  these  wild  bands  of  Sioux  had 
the  right  guaranteed  to  them  to  roam  and  hunt 
in  the  valleys  where  they  then  were,  and  in  all 
other  parts  of  the  unceded  Indian  country,  as 
long  as  game  abounded. 

In  December,  1875,  the  Secretary  of  the  Inter 
ior  ordered  the  Sioux  to  remove  to  a  reservation 
on  penalty  of  being  reported  to  the  War  Depart 
ment  as  hostiles.  This  order  was  sent  to  the 
agents  of  the  respective  tribes,  to  be  commun- 


CUSTBR  AND  THE  SIOUX.  139 

icated  to  Sitting  Bull  and  other  wild  Indians. 
This  order  was  to  take  effect  in  January,  1876. 
These  wild  Indians  were  nomads,  roaming  and 
hunting  on  unceded  lands  by  virtue  of  the  treaty  of 
1868.  Some  of  the  Indians  acquiesced  in  the 
order,  others  knew  that  there  was  not  food 
enough  for  them  at  the  agencies,  and  so  declined 
to  come  till  they  had  supplied  themselves  with 
buffalo  meat,  still  others  never  heard  of  the  order. 
Sitting  Bull  sent  word  that  he  would  not  comply. 
Very  many  of  the  agency  Indians  were  out  hunt 
ing.  These  were  disarmed  as  they  returned. 
When  this  became  known  the  hunting  parties 
still  out  refused  to  return,  but  joined  the  forces 
of  Sitting  Bull. 

Sitting  Bull's  declination  was  anticipated,  and 
he  and  his  followers  were  turned  over  to  the  tender 
mercy  of  the  War  Department.  An  expedition 
was  speedily  dispatched  against  them,  in  which 
the  miners  were  a  unit  with  the  troops,  for  it  was 
clear  that  the  Black  Hills  region  must  be  wrested 
from  the  Indians, 

The  war,  aptly  styled  "the  crime  of  the  cen 
tennial  year,"  was  therefore  begun  against  the 
Sioux.  Three  colurns  of  troops  were  ordered  to 
concentrate  on  the  upper  waters  of  the  Yellow 
stone.  General  Terry  started  from  Fort  Lincoln 
with  one  column,  1,000  strong,  in  which  was 


140  CUSTER  AND  THK  SIOUX. 

Ouster's  command.  General  Crook  had  com 
mand  of  the  Fort  Fetterman  column,  1,300  men. 
General  Gibbon  led  the  one  from  Fort  Ellis,  with 
400  men.  Crook  reached  the  field  first  and  sent 
General  Reynolds  to  look  up  the  band  of  Crazy 
Horse,  then  encamped  near  Bear  Butte,  and  de 
tained  there  by  the  cold  weather.  On  March  17, 
1876,  Reynolds  surprised  this  camp,  capturing 
800  ponies,  and  destroying  the  teepes  and  goods. 
The  Indians  rallied  on  the  mountain  sides  and 
made  a  determined  stand,  pouring  in  a  destructive 
fire  on  the  troops.  The  troops  were  re-inforced 
and  finally  succeeded  in  beating  the  Indians  off, 
so  that  a  retreat  could  be  effected.  This  retreat 
was  kept  up  for  20  miles,  during  which  the 
whites  lost  most  of  the  captured  ponies.  In  this 
engagement  the  Indians  were  surprised  but  by 
no  means  beaten.  Crook  returned  to  Fort  Fetter, 
man,  on  account  of  the  cold,  where  he  remained 
till  May  29th. 

This  expedition  gave  rise  to  the  impression 
that  the  hostile  Sioux  were  not  so  numerous  as 
had  been  supposed.  This  false  impression  be 
came  the  basis  of  future  forces  and  movements. 
How  fatal  it  was,  we  shall  soon  see.  Crook  opened 
his  summer  campaign  by  marching  from  For 
Fetterman  to  Fort  Reno.  By  June  8th  he  was 
on  Tongue  River,  where  he  was  joined  by  a  num- 


CUSTER  AND  THE  SIOUX.  141 

her  of  Crow,  Shoshone  and  Nez  Perces  Indians  as 
scouts.  The  camps  of  Sitting  Bull  and  Crazy 
Horse  were  reported  to  be  on  the  Rosebud  River. 
Thither  Crook  marched  expecting  to  surprise  the 
camp.  But  he  was  suddenly  attacked  by  Sitting 
Bull,  and  the  "Battle  of  the  Rosebud"  was  fought 
June  1 7th,  1876.  Crook  deployed  to  a  disadvan 
tage  owing  to  the  contour  of  the  ground.  Sit 
ting  Bull  handled  his  forces  with  great  skill, 
taking  advantage  of  every  defect  in  Crook's  lines. 
The  ground  was  hotly  contested,  and  the  white 
troops  were  forced  into  a  retreat,  which  for  a  time 
foreboded  disaster.  But  they  were  reformed  and 
pushed  the  battle  with  great  gallantry,  finally 
holding  the  field,  but  unable  to  pursue  and  pun 
ish. 

The  two  colums  of  Terry  and  Gibbon  had  com 
municated  with  each  other  near  the  junction  of 
the  Tongue  and  Yellowstone  Rivers.  The  In 
dians  were  found  to  be  in  force  beyond  the  Yel 
lowstone,  and  Terry  began  to  feel  for  them  along 
the  lines  of  the  Powder,  Tongue,  Rosebud,  Little 
and  Big  Horn  Rivers.  Major  Reno  was  sent 
with  six  companies  of  the  7th  Cavalry  to  the 
Powder  River  with  orders  to  communicate  with 
Crook.  He  found  neither  Crook  nor  Indians. 
Both  the  Tongue  and  Powder  Rivers  were  de 
clared  to  be  free  from  Indians.  The  search  nar- 


142  CUSTER  AND  THE  SIOUX. 

rowed  to  the  Rosebud  and  Big  and  Little  Horn 
Rivers.  As  soon  as  Terry  received  Reno's  report 
he  ordered  General  Custer  to  march  to  a  point 
south  of  Gibbon,  on  the  Yellowstone.  Terry 
kept  abreast  of  his  column,  on  the  little  steamer 
Far  West.  When  Gibbon's  camp  was  reached, 
a  consultation  was  held.  It  was  believed  the  In 
dians  were  on  the  Rosebud  or  Little  or  Big  Horn 
and  Terry  announced  that  General  Custer  should 
strike  them  a  blow. 

Custer  started  up  the  Rosebud  on  June  22nd, 
with  orders  to  proceed  south  to  the  head-waters 
of  the  Tongue,  and  then  turn  toward  the  Little 
Big  Horn,  but  leaving  him  unhampered  should 
occasion  require.  Colonel  Gibbon's  column  was 
already  in  motion  toward  the  mouth  of  the  Big 
Horn,  intending  to  cross  and  move  to  the  parks 
of  the  Big  and  Little  Big  Horn.  Custer  and 
Gibbon  were  to  communicate  as  often  as  possible. 

Custer  marched  his  regiment  twelve  miles  up 
the  Rosebud  on  June  22nd.  On  the  23rd  and 
24th  he  continued  his  march,  following  an  Indian 
trail,  which  freshened  every  mile.  He  then  halted 
to  await  his  scouts.  The  report  came  that  the 
Indian  camp  seemed  to  be  on  the  Little  Big  Horn. 
To  reach  it  the  divide  between  the  Rosebud  and 
the  Little  Big  Horn  would  have  to  be  crossed, 
and  in  order  to  do  this  in  safety  the  march  would 


CUSTER  AND  THE  SIOUX.  143 

have  to  be  at  night.    The  movement  began  at  n 
P.  M.,  of  the  24th,  and  the  column  filed  up  a 
branch  of  the  Rosebud,  which  headed  near  the 
summit  of  the  divide.     The  scouts  brought  word 
that,  the  divide  could  not  be  crossed  except  in 
daylight.      A   halt   was  called;    breakfast    was 
taken.     At  8  A.  M.  of  the  25th  the  divide  was 
crossed  and  the  column  began  to  descend  a  branch 
of  the  Little  Big  Horn.     Indians  had  been  seen 
and  a  surprise  was  now  out  of  the  question.     It 
was  determined  to  move  in  direct  attack.    Custer 
kept  command  of  Companies  C,  E,  F,  I  and  L. 
Reno  commanded  Companies  M,  A  and  G.   Ben- 
teen  commanded  Companies  H,  D  and  K.     Mc- 
Dougall  held  Company  B  as  a  guard  for  the  train. 
Reno  moved  to  the  left ;  Benteen  further  to  the 
left.     Custer  kept  to  the  right  of  the  creek.     In 
this  order  the  forces  moved  down  toward  the  Little 
Big  Horn  and  the  valley.     By  12.30  P.  M.,  the 
village  was  reported  as  only  two  miles  ahead  and 
running  away.      Reno  was  ordered  to  push  for 
ward  as  fast  as  possible,  and  he  would  be  sup 
ported  by  all  the  rest.      He  quicked  marched  for 
two  miles  to  a  fording,  stopped  to  gather  his  bat 
talions,  and  sent  hasty  word  to  Custer  that  the 
enemy  was  in  force  before  him,  and  strong.     He- 
deployed  and  charged  down  the  valley,  driving 
the  Indians  for  over  two  miles  with  great  ease. 


144  CUSTER  AND  THE  SIOUX. 

Fearing  a  trap  and  not  finding  the  support  Cus- 
ter  had  promised,  yet  not  wishing  to  retreat, 
though  the  Indians  began  to  swarm  around  him, 
he  dismounted  his  men,  and  took  possession  of  a 
point  of  wood  for  defence  He  soon  found  he 
was  fighting  odds  five  to  one,  and  that  he  must 
get  out  of  the  woods  to  escape  being  surrounded 
and  captured.  He  remounted  his  men  and 
charged  on  the  Indians  between  him  and  the 
bluffs  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river.  This 
desperate  charge  cost  him  the  lives  of  3  officers 
and  29  men. 

He  gained  the  bluffs,  however,  and  was  met  by 
Benteen's  three  companies,  which  raised 
his  force  to  380  men.  Hearing  nothing 
of  Custar,  and  thus  reinforced,  he  moved  along 
the  bluffs  toward  the  Indian  camp  again.  Firing 
was  heard  off  in  the  direction  of  the  vilkge.  The 
supposition  was  it  was  Custer,  and  an  effort  was 
made  to  communicate  with  him,  which  failed. 
Reno  then  returned  to  his  first  position  on  the 
bluffs,  dismounted  his  men,  sheltered  their  horses 
in  a  depression,  and  had  hardly  done  so  when  he 
was  furiously  attacked.  The  attack  lasted  till 
9  P.  M.,  and  occasioned  a  loss  of  18  killed  and 
46  wounded. 

Reno  was  now  impressed  with  the  fact  that 
the  overwhelming  force  of  the  enemy  would  pre- 


CUSTER  AND  THE  SIOUX.  145 

vent  Custer  from  coming  to  his  support.  He 
therefore  dug  rifle  pits  and  prepared  barricades 
of  dead  horses  and  mules,  so  as  to  be  prepared 
for  the  next  day.  All  night  his  men  worked 
within  sound  of  a  scalp-dance-in  the  valley  below. 
At  half  past  two  in  the  morning  his  positon  sud 
denly  became  the  centre  of  a  terrific  fusilade, 
which  increased  till  daylight.  Reno  found  him 
self  completely  surrounded  by  swarms  of  daring 
savages,  who  boldly  charged  his  lines  at  9  A.  M., 
but  were  repulsed.  On  the  morning  of  the  27th, 
troops  were  seen  coming  to  their  relief.  Where 
was  Custer  all  this  time  ?  Of  all  his  command 
there  was  only  one  left  to  tell,  Curly,  the  Crow 
Indian  Scout.  His  story  runs  : 

Custer,  with  his  five  companies,  after  separa 
ting  from  Reno  and  his  seven  companies,  moved 
to  the  right  around  the  base  of  a  high  hill  over 
looking  the  valley  of  the  Little  Horn.  There 
were  no  signs  of  Indians  in  the  hills  on  that  side 
(the  right)  of  the  Little  Horn,  and  the  column 
moved  steadily  on  until  it  rounded  the  hill  and 
came  in  sight  of  the  village  lying  in  the  valley 
below  them.  Custer  appeared  very  much  elated, 
and  ordered  the  bugles  to  sound  a  charge,  and 
moved  on  at  the  head  of  his  column,  waving  his 
hat  to  encourage  his  men.  When  they  neared 
the  river,  the  Indians,  concealed  in  the  under- 


146  CUSTBR  AND  THE  SIOUX. 

growth  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  stream,  opened 
fire  on  the  troops,  which  checked  the  advance. 
Here  a  portion  of  the  command  were  dismounted 
and  thrown  forward  to  the  river,  and  returned 
the  fire  of  the  Indians.  During  this  time  the 
warriors  were  seen  riding  out  of  the  village  by 
hundreds,  and  deploying  across  Ouster's  front 
and  to  his  left,  while  the  women  and  children 
were  seen  hastening  out  of  the  village  in  large 
numbers  in  the  opposite  direction.  During  the 
fight  at  this  point,  Curly  saw  two  of  Ouster's 
men  killed,  who  fell  into  the  stream.  After  fight 
ing  a  few  moments  here,  Ouster  seemed  to  be 
convinced  that  it  was  impracticable  to  cross,  as  it 
only  could  be  done  in  column  of  fours,  exposed 
during  the  movement  to  a  heavy  fire  from  the 
front  and  both  flanks.  He  therefore  ordered  the 
head  of  the  column  to  the  left,  and  bore  diag 
onally  into  the  hills,  down  stream,  his  men  on 
foot  leading  their  horses. 

In  the  meantime  the  Indians  had  crossed  the 
river  (below)  in  immense  numbers,  and  began  to 
appear  on  his  right  flank  and  in  his  rear ;  and 
he  had  proceeded  but  a  few  hundred  yards  in  the 
new  directidn  the  column  had  taken,  when  it  be 
came  necessary  to  renew  the  fight  with  the  In 
dians  who  had  crossed  the  stream.  At  first  the 
command  remained  together,  but  after  some  min- 


CUSTER  AND  THE  SIOUX.  147 

utes  fighting  it  was  divided,  a  portion  deploying 
circularly  to  the  left,  and  the  remainder  similarly 
to  the  right,  so  that  when  the  line  was  formed, 
it  bore  a  rude  resemblance  to  a  circle,  advantage 
being  taken,  as  far  as  possible,  of  the  protection 
afforded  by  the  ground.  The  horses  were  in  the 
rear,  the  men  on  the  line  being  dismounted,  fight 
ing  on  foot.  Of  the  incidents  of  the  fight  in  other 
parts  of  the  field  than  his  own,  Curly  was  not 
well-informed,  as  he  was  himself  concealed  in  a 
deep  ravine,  from  which  but  a  small  part  of  the 
field  was  visible. 

The  fight  appeared  to  have  begun,  about  2.30 
or  3  o'clock  P.  M.,  on  the  25th,  and  continued 
without  intermssion  until  nearly  sunset.  The 
Indians  had  completely  surrounded  the  command^ 
leaving  their  horses  in  ravines  well  to  the  rear 
themselves  pressing  forward  to  the  attack  on  foot. 
Confident  in  the  great  superiority  of  their  num 
bers,  they  made  several  charges  on  all  points  of 
Custer's  lines,  but  the  troops  held  their  position 
firmly,  and  delivered  a  heavy  fire,  which  every 
time  drove  them  back.  The  firing  was  a  contin 
uous  roll,  or,  as  he  expressed  it,  "like  the  snapping 
of  threads  in  the  tearing  of  a  blanket."  The 
troops  expended  all  the  ammunition  in  their  belts, 
and  then  sought  their  horses  for  the  reserve  am 
munition  carried  in  their  saddle  pockets. 


148  CUSTER  AND  THE  SIOUX. 

As  long  as  their  ammunition  held  out,  the  troops, 
though  losing  considerably  in  the  fight,  main 
tained  their  position  in  spite  of  all  the  efforts  of 
the  Sioux.  From  the  weakening  of  their  fire 
toward  the  close  of  the  afternoon,  the  Indians 
appeared  to  believe  that  their  ammunition  was 
about  exhausted,  and  they  made  a  grand  final 
charge,  in  the  course  of  which  the  last  of  the 
command  was  destroyed,  the  men  being  shot 
where  they  lay  in  their  positions  in  the  line,  at 
such  close  quarters  that  many  were  killed  with 
arrows.  Curly  said  that  Custer  remained  alive 
throughout  the  greater  part  of  the  engagement, 
animating  his  men  to  determine  resistance,  but 
about  an  hour  before  the  close  of  the  fight  he 
received  a  mortal  wound. 

The  Crow  said,  further,  that  the  field  was 
thickly  strewn  with  the  dead  bodies  of  the  Sioux, 
who  fell  in  the  attack — in  numbers  considerably 
more  than  the  force  of  soldiers  engaged.  He  was 
satisfied  that  their  loss  exceeded  200  killed,  be 
sides  an  immense  number  wounded.  Curly  ac 
complished  his  escape  by  drawing  his  blanket 
around  him  in  the  manner  of  the  Sioux,  and 
passing  through  an  interval  which  had  been 
made  in  their  lines  as  they  scattered  over  the 
field  in  their  final 


CUSTER  AND  THE  SIOUX.  149 

In  most  particulars  the  account  given  by  Curly 
of  the  fight  is  confirmed  by  the  position  of  the 
trail  made  by  Custer  in  his  movements  and  the 
general  evidences  of  the  battle  field.  The 
famous  Sioux  chief,  Gall,  who  had  an  important 
command  among  the  hostiles?  during  the  battle,  on 
being  taken  over  the  field  in  1888,  by  the  officers  at 
Fort  Custer,  confirmed  the  statement  of  the  Crow 
scout.  Custer,  according  to  Gall,  did  not  succeed 
in  crossing  the  river. 

He  saw  at  a  glance  that  he  was  overpowered, 
and  did  the  only  thing  proper  under  the  circum 
stances,  in  leading  his  command  to  higher  ground 
where  it  could  defend  itself  to  some  advantage. 
Even  in  that  dread  extremity,  his  soldier  spirit 
and  noble  bearing  held  the  men  under  control, 
and  the  dead  bodies  of  the  troopers  of  Calhoun's 
and  Keough's  companies,  found  by  General  Gib 
bon's  command  lying  in  ranks  as  they  fell,  at 
tested  the  cool  generalship  exhibited  by  the  heroic 
leader  in  the  midst  of  deadly  peril.  It  had 
always  been  General  Glister's  habit  to  divide  his 
command  when  attacking  Indian  villages.  His 
victory  over  Black  Kettle  on  the  Washita  was 
obtained  in  that  manner,  but  the  experiment 
proved  fatal  to  Major  Elliott,  and  a  considerable 
squad  of  soldiers.  It  was  the-  general  opinion  in 
Crook's  command  at  the  time,  that  had  an  officer 


150  CUSTBR  AND  THE  SIOUX. 

of  more  resolution  been  in  Major  Reno's  place, 
he  would  have  attempted  to  join  Custer  at  any 
cost.  Reno  was,  no  doubt,  imposed  upon  by 
Indian  strategy,  and  his  retreat  to  the  bluffs,  was 
to  say  the  least  of  it,  premature.  But,  in  the 
light  of  after  events, ,  it  does  not  seem  probable 
that  he  could  have  reached  the  fatal  heights  upon 
which  Custer  and  his  men  perished.  Had  Custer 
taken  his  entire  regiment  into  the  fight  he  might 
still  have  sustained  a  repulse,  but  would  have  es 
caped  annihilation. 

Meanwhile  Gibbon  had  pushed  his  command 
forward  so  that  he  could  reach  the  Little  Big 
Horn  by  scouts.  On  the  morning  of  the  26th, 
three  Crow  scouts  brought  him  word  of  Custer's 
massacre.  Gibbon  then  entered  the  valley  of 
Little  Big  Horn  with  his  whole  Infantry  force. 
The  enemy  retreated,  and  Gibbon  forced  his  men 
ahead  till  he  reached  the  fortified  position  held  by 
Reno.  The  rescue  was  a  welcome  one,  for  Reno 
was  holding  on  with  sheer  desperation  and  was 
liable  to  Custer's  fate  at  any  moment.  The 
Indians  quailed  before  the  advent  of  Gibbon's 
command  and  took  to  the  mountains,  burning  all 
they  could  not  carry. 

Gibbon  started  to  find  Custer.  A  march  of  a 
few  miles  brought  him  upon  the  field  of  blood. 
The  sight  that  met  his  eyes  was  shocking  in  the 


CUSTBR  AND  THE  SIOUX.  151 

extreme.  Over  those  bluffs,  naked  and  mutilated, 
were  thickly  strewn  the  dead  bodies  of  Ouster's 
men.  Near  the  summit,  they  found  the  body  of 
the  gallant  Custer.  Gibbon's  regiment  buried 
the  dead  on  the  field  where  they  fell.  After  the 
dead  were  buried,  Generals  Terry  and  Gibbon 
slowly  and  sadly  retraced  their  way  to  Rosebud 
Landing,  on  the  Yellowstone,  where,  like  Crook, 
they  awaited  re-inforcenients. 

The  Indians  now  divided.  Sitting  Bull  kept 
the  Valley  of  Long  Fork,  while  Crazy  Horse 
moved  eastward.  Re-inforcements  were  hurried 
to  the  seat  of  war.  Crook  scouted  Tongue 
River,  and  started  for  the  Black  Hills.  General 
McKenzie  moved  in  October  upon  the  Red  Cloud 
Agency  and  siezed  the  arms  and  ponies  belonging 
to  Red  Cloud's  band.  This  was  white  savagery 
in  the  extreme,  yet  war  seemed  to  justify  it  by 
the  fact  that  so  many  of  the  agency  Indians  were 
deserting,  with  their  arms,  to  the  hostiles. 

It  was  in  October,  1876,  that  General  Miles 
was  met  by  Sitting  Bull  with  propositions  for 
peace.  He  would  listen  to  no  terms  that  deprived 
him  of  his  right  to  live  as  a  free  Indian.  The 
dissolution  of  the  Council  meant  that  hostilities 
would  be  renewed.  Both  sides  took  position  and 
a  battle  ensued  in  which  the  Indians  were  routed 
and  chased  for  forty  miles.  400  lodges  surren- 


I52  CUSTER  AND  THE  SIOUX. 

dered,  and  119  gained  the  Yankton  reservation, 
where  they  dissolved.  Sitting  Bull  escaped  to 
the  north. 

A  new  expedition  was  fitted  out  by  General 
Crook,  and  on  the  yth  of  December,  Lieutenant 
Baldwin  attacked  Sitting  Bull  and  drove  him 
across  the  Missouri.  On  the  i8th  he  surprised 
their  camp,  capturing  all  its  contents.  In  a  state 
of  destitution,  Sitting  Bull's  band  escaped  across 
the  Yellowstone  where  he  received  word  from 
Crazy  Horse  to  join  his  camp. 

This  was  prevented  by  General  Miles.  Crazy 
Horse  was  driven  from  his  winter  camp  on  the 
Tongue  River,  and  followed  until  on  the  morn 
ing  of  Jan.  8th,  a  fight  ensued  between  Miles' 
force  and  600  braves,  in  which  the  Indians  were 
repulsed  with  heavy  loss  and  driven  back  over 
the  Wolf  Mountains  whence  they  fled  to  the  Big 
Horn  range.  Here  Miles  sent  word  to  them  that 
they  must  surrender.  This  they  concluded  to  do. 
On  May  6th,  889  people  and  2,000  ponies  under 
Crazy  Horse,  came  into  Camp  Robinson  and 
surrendered  to  General  Crook.  Sitting  Bull  and 
the  remnant  of  his  little  band  fled  across  the 
Canada  line  where  he  was  joined  by  other 
Chiefs.  On  the  2oth  day  of  July  1881,  Sitting 
Bull  returned  with  all  that  was  left  of  his  once 
powerful  camp,  and  surrendered  at  Fort  Buford. 


CHAPTER  XV. 
THE  NEZ  PERCES  WARS. 

IN  these  pages  the  reader  has  already  become 
acquainted  with  the  Nez  Perces,  and  has 
learned  that  they  have,  as  a  rule,  been  friend 
ly.  Their  friendship  has  been  sorely  tested 
at  times,  both  by  their  surroundings  and  by  the 
folly  of  the  whites,  but  it  has  ever  proved  of  good 
quality.  They  invited  missionaries  in  early 
times,  they  shared  the  patriotic  enmity  of  our 
settlers  against  the  encroachments  of  England, 
when  her  Hudson  Bay  Company  would  have 
stolen  the  whole  of  the  North- west  territory,  they 
offered  protection  to  the  Lapwai  mission  after 
Whitman  had  fallen  at  Wailatpu,  they  stood  for 
peace  during  the  disturbances  of  1855.  While 
they  may  not  have  been  forward  in  adopting  the 
civilization  of  the  white  man,  they  have  always 
proved  a  friend. 

They  are  racially,  upper  and  lower  Nez  Perces. 
Of  the  latter,  Joseph  was  chief,  when  Whitman 
was  massacred.  He  came  to  meet  the  Oregon 
Volunteers  with  the  speech : — "When  I  left  home 


154  THE  NEZ  PERCES  WARS. 

I  took  the  Book  in  my  hand  and  brought  it  with 
me.  It  is  my  light.  I  heard  the  Americans 
were  coming  to  kill  me.  Still  I  held  my  Book 
before  me  and  came  on." 

The  Nez  Perces  never  had  a  central  chief  of 
their  own  choosing.  The  Upper  and  Lower  na 
tions  conceded  the  right  of  visitation,  hunting  and 
fishing  to  each  other,  bnt  as  to  the  control  of 
their  lands,  the  right  was  in  the  tribe  which  oc 
cupied  them  permanently. 

The  Nez  Perces  occupied  desirable  seats,  so  far 
as  their  tastes  went.  The  Lower  Nez  Perces 
were  bounded  on  one  side  by  the  Snake  River, 
and  on  the  other  by  the  Blue  Mountains.  Between 
are  mountains  and  valleys,  in  such  rapid  success- 
sion  as  to  make  the  country  undesirable  for 
whites,  yet  loveable  to  the  Indians.  Their  Chief 
Joseph  was  an  astute  philosopher,  with  notions 
of  land  tenure  that  astonished  those  who  came  to 
treat  with  him  and  with  a  care  for  his  people 
that  was  patriarchal.  He  would  not  sell  land 
because  no  man  owned  any  part  of  the  earth.  It 
was  God's  gift  to  all,  and  for  a  man  to  assume  to 
part  with  wrhat  was  not  his  own  was  impious.  He 
refused  to  ratify  the  treaty  of  1859,  and  advised 
his  people  not  to  receive  the  money  and  presents 
offered  by  the  Government,  lest  the  white  man 


THE  NBZ  PERCES  WARS.  155 

should  say  he  had  bought  what  the  Indian  could 
not  sell. 

By  1863  the  encroachment  of  the  whites  on  the 
Nez  Perces  was  such,  and  the  quality  of  the 
whisky  sold  them  was  so  bad,  that  conflicts  arose 
and  another  treaty,  as  a  means  of  further  cheat 
ing  them,  was  deemed  necessary.  By  this  treaty 
the  Upper  Nez  Perces  agreed  to  accept  the  limits 
of  the  reservation  mapped  for  them  at  Lapwai. 
The  Lower  Nez  Perces  refused  to  join  in  the 
treaty.  But  that  did  not  save  their  lands  for 
them. 

The  Upper  Nez  Perces  sold  all  their  lands,  not 
set  forth  in  their  reservation.  This  sale,  by 
judicial  knavery  known  only  where  English  is 
spoken,  was  made  to  comprehend  the  lands  of  the 
Lower  Nez  Perces.  The  logic  was  that  inas 
much  as  Joseph  had  joined  the  other  chiefs  in 
giving  title  to  lands  sold  as  far  back  as  1855, 
he  thereby  acknowledged  the  tribal  relation  of 
the  Nez  Perces.  Therefore,  when  the  Northern 
Nez  Perces  chose  to  sell  lands,  they  necessarily 
sold  tribal  lands,  that  is  they  sold  Joseph's  lands, 
or  the  lands  of  the  Lower  Nez  Perces.  This 
trick  of  law  and  travesty  on  justice  was  an  after 
thought  on  the  part  of  the  authorities,  for  Joseph 
died  in  1871,  in  blissful  ignorance  of  the  fact  that 
his  tribe  had  no  place  in  which  to  subsist. 


156  THE  NEZ  PERCES  WARS. 

Joseph  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Thunder- 
travelling-over-the-Mountains.  He  was  the 
younger  Joseph  of  the  Nez  Perces,  six  feet  tall, 
grave  and  cautious,  exact  and  resolute.  He  and 
his  brother  Ollacut  were  educated  in  Mrs.  Spal- 
ding's  Mission  School.  Though  the  whites  con 
tinued  to  swarm  in  his  country,  he  ruled  so  as  to 
avoid  war.  Even  when  outrages  on  Indians 
began  in  1871,  he  took  no  revenge,  but  never 
abated  his  argument  that  the  white  man  should 
leave  the  country. 

In  1875  and  1876,  the  conduct  of  the  whites 
became  unbearable.  Indians  were  killed  in 
sprees  and  quarrels,  and  yet  no  murder  could  be 
indicted.  Joseph  relied  on  that  broken  reed — 
the  law,  but  it  never  came  to  vindicate  the 
wronged  of  his  tribe.  In  1873  the  question  of 
title  to  the  lands  of  the  Lower  Nez  Perces  reached 
a  crisis.  It  was  not  thought  that  the  sale  made 
of  outside  lands  by  the  Upper  Nez  Perces  included 
those  of  the  Lower  Nez  Perces.  So  steps  were 
taken  to  set  the  Wallowa  section  off  as  a  reserva 
tion  for  the  Lower  Nez  Perces.  Congress  refused 
to  confirm  the  steps,  for  the  reasons  given  above. 
The  lands  had  already  been  sold  and  the  Lower 
Nez  Perces  would  have  to  go  on  the  Lapwai  res 
ervation  with  their  northern  brothers. 


THE  NBZ  PBRCES  WARS.  157 

The  consummation  of  this  outrage  excited  the 
attention  of  many  people  in  Oregon  who  had  not 
forgotten  the  good  services  of  the  NezPerces  in  the 
past.  They  interested  themselves  in  the  forma 
tion  of  a  commission  to  investigate  the  matter. 
General  O.  O.  Howard,  then  commanding  the 
District  of  Columbia,  was  made  a  member  of 
the  Commission.  The  Commission  met  at  Lap- 
wai  and  had  long  talks  with  the  Chiefs.  Joseph  quite 
non-plussed  them  with  the  wisdom  and  truth  of 
his  statements.  But  marvelous  as  it  may  seem, 
though  there  was  no  attempt  to  counteract  his 
wisdom,  or  dispute  his  facts,  this  Commission 
chosen  in  a  Christian  spirit  and  for  the  purpose  of 
meting  justice,  ratified  the  sale  of  Joseph's  lands 
without  his  consent,  and  decided  that  if  the 
Lower  Nez  Perces  did  not  leave  their  country  and 
go  on  to  the  Lapwai  reservation  they  should  be 
driven  there  by  force.  The  same  Commission 
recommended  that  the  Cayuses,  Umatillas  and 
Walla- Walla's  vacate  their  peaceful  homes  and 
go  on  to  the  Umatilla  reservation,  because  their 
numbers  were  too  small  to  hold  such  quantities 
of  land  when  so  many  white  agriculturists  were 
waiting  to  occupy  them. 

General  Howard  was  the  agent  to  enforce  the 
decision  of  the  Commission,  by  virtue  of  his  office. 
He  held  several  councils,  which  were  of  no  avail, 


158  THE  NEZ  PERCES  WARS. 

except  in  that  it  was  made  plain  that  the  Indians 
must  go  on  to  the  Lapwai  reservation  or  fight. 
Joseph  decided  not  to  fight,  but  he  could  not 
control  all  his  chiefs.  Too-hul-hul-sute  coun 
seled  resistance,  and  Joseph's  decision  was  over 
ruled.  They  formed  war  parties,  armed  them 
selves  thoroughly,  practiced  infantry  and  cavalry 
tactics.  When  the  30  days  given  them  to  vacate 
were  up  they  were  in  excitement  ready  to  resist. 
Their  young  bucks  could  not  be  restrained,  and 
they  engaged  in  murderous  excesses.  Blood 
whetted  their  appetites  and  they  rode  to  camps 
showing  the  scalps  they  had  taken.  Joseph 
and  Ollacut  remained  unmoved,  but  Wnite 
Bird  gave  way  and  joined  the  riotous  throng. 
Twenty  warriors  rode  out  of  camp  and 
back  to  Salmon  River.  Each  one  had  his  spite 
against  some  settler  who  had  wronged  him,  and 
his  hour  for  revenge  had  come.  Several  mur 
ders  were  committed  and  many  houses  were 
burned.  These  excesses  were  only  drawing  on 
them  a  sorry  fate.  They  made  war  inevitable, 
but  not  until  it  became  so  did  Joseph  cease  his 
advice  for  peace.  Then  he  took  command,  and 
moved  his  forces  to  White  Bird  Canyon. 

Colonel  Perry  came  up  in  haste  from  Fort 
Lapwai,  with  90  men.  He  entered  the  canyon, 
across  which  Joseph  had  stretched  his  men,  hid- 


THE  NEZ  PERCES  WARS.  159 

den  by  bushes  and  rocks.  He  had  also  ambush 
ed  a  party  of  cavalry  behind  a  hill  on  the  t  south 
of  the  canyon.  When  the  soldiers  came  within 
range  every  bush  and  rock  poured  out  its  con 
cealed  fire.  At  the  same  moment  the  mounted 
warriors  appeared  on  the  left.  Perry  deployed 
his  force  so  as  to  meet  both  attacks.  Men  were 
falling  thick  and  fast.  The  cry  of  "  fall  back  to 
the  next  ridge  "  was  heard.  The  troops  fell  back, 
but  the  enemy  were  on  their  heels.  The  troops 
were  in  confusion.  They  could  not  stop  at  the 
ridge  and  all  efforts  to  rally  them  proved  unsuc 
cessful.  The  Indians  were  pressing  in  on  all 
sides  to  sunder  the  column  and  cut  off  retreat. 
Captain  Teller  was  cut  off,  and  wheeled  into  a 
side  ravine,  only  to  have  his  command  cut  to 
pieces.  A  few  only  struggled  up  the  steep  sides 
and  made  their  escape.  The  troops  were  now  in 
full  retreat,  and  were  pursued  for  twelve  miles. 
Sixty-five  of  them  made  their  escape  and  re-form 
ed  far  from  the  scene  of  battle  and  defeat.  The 
quiet,  unostentatious,  friendly  nation  of  Indians 
was  in  a  twinkling  transformed  into  doughty 
warriors,  whose  conquest  would  require  heavy  re 
inforcements. 

Additional  troops  were  sent  from  all  points. 
Skirmishing  became  almost  continuous.  The 
camp  of  Looking  Glass,  a  friendly,  was  attacked 


160  THE  NEZ  PERCES  WARS. 

and  destroyed,  but  his  warriors  escaped  to  Joseph. 
Lieutenant  Rains  and  ten  men  went  on  a  scout. 
The  entire  force  was  killed.  General  Howard 
came  up  with  all  the  troops  he  could  muster— 
400  fighting  men,  with  gatling  guns  and  a  how 
itzer.  Joseph  had  crossed  to  .the  Clear  Water 
with  300  warriors.  Here  battle  was  joined. 
The  troops  had  left  their  supply  trains  ungarded. 
Joseph  saw  this  and  sent  30  warriors  to  capture 
it.  They  were  driven  off  by  the  cavalry,  who 
detected  the  move  in  the  nick  of  time.  All  after 
noon  the  main  battle  progressed.  Charges  and 
counter-charges  were  made  with  varying  effects. 
All  night  both  sides  strengthened  their  positions 
and  kept  up  the  firing.  In  the  morning  fierce 
battle  was  renewed  and  continued  till  noon. 
Howard  received  a  re-inforcement  of  cavalry, 
which  joined  the  artillery  in  a  charge  on  the  In 
dians  left.  The  fighting  was  furious  for  some  time, 
but  the  Indians  recoiled,  broke  and  fled  across 
the  Clear  Water,  where  they  re-formed  in  suffic 
ient  numbers  to  protect  the  flight  of  the  rest. 

They  were  pursued  by  the  troops,  the  next 
morning,  but  the  pursuing  column  was  ambushed 
by  the  rear  guard  of  the  Nez  Perces  and  thrown 
into  confusion.  Night  found  the  Indians  strong 
ly  encamped  at  the  entrance  to  Solo  trail. 
Joseph's  second  battle  had  not  been  a  victory  but 


THE  NEZ  PERCES  WARS.  161 

he  had  conducted  a  masterly  retreat.  It  was  de 
signed  to  trap  Joseph  in  this  long  and  tortuous 
trail.  But  he  was  too  wary  for  the  troops.  He 
threaded  its  mazes  to  the  valley  of  the  Lou-Lou, 
and  thence  to  the  Bitter  Root.  General  Gibbon, 
with  a  force  of  190  cavalry  from  Helena,  tried  to 
intercept  them  on  the  Bitter  Root,  but  failed. 
They  had  gone  into  the  valley  of  the  Big  Hole 
River.  Here  they  thought  they  were  secure, 
but  Gibbon  had  followed  them  closely  and  caught 
up  with  them.  In  the  dim  light  of  early  morn 
ing  he  struck  their  camp  and  charged  completely 
through  it.  The  surprise  seemed  complete,  but 
the  warriors  rallied  and  retook  their  camp.  They 
drove  the  troops  back  behind  defences  and  kept 
up  battle  with  them  through  the  day.  Gibbon 
fell,  wounded,  and  his  howitzer  fell  a  prize  to  the 
enemy.  At  night  the  Indians  retreated  leaving 
the  troops  so  badly  used  up  that  they  could  not 
follow.  The  third  battle  was  Joseph's  victory. 
It  was  here  that  Howard  joined  Gibbon,  and 
where  the  humane  generals  of  the  white  troops 
permitted  their  Bannock  auxiliaries  to  scalp  the 
dead  Nez  Perces  braves.  The  Nez  Perces  took 
no  scalps  and  never  mutilated  the  slain.  Their 
greatest  loss  in  this  battle  was  their  ablest  diplo 
mat,  Looking  Glass. 


162  THE  NEZ  PERCES  WARS. 

Joseph  now  crossed  the  divide  into  Idaho  and 
camped  on  the  Camas  prairie.  He  was  pursued 
by  Howard,  who  also  encamped  on  the  prairie. 
Joseph  planned  a  surprise,  by  which  he  ran  off  a 
great  number  of  Howard's  horses.  Leaving  his 
pursuer  crippled,  he  passed  through  Tacker's 
Pass  into  the  Yellowstone  Park,  down  the  Yel 
lowstone  Lake,  over  the  river  through  Clark's 
Canyon  and  back  to  the  Yellowstone  again.  This 
feint  was  to  avoid  Sturgis'  command  of  350  caval 
ry,  who  thought  to  head  Joseph  off  in  the  valley  of 
the  Stinking  Water  River.  But  Sturgis  soon  found 
he  had  been  deceived,  and  took  up  the  chase  in  the 
right  direction.  He  struck  the  rear  guard  of  the 
Nez  Perces  beyond  the  Yellowstone,  and,  though 
met  by  a  severe  fire,  he  pressed  it  so  closely  as 
to  capture  400  ponies.  The  Indians  entered 
Canyon  Creek  where  they  repelled  attack 
throughout  the  day.  In  the  morning  Sturgis 
received  a  large  re-inforcement  of  Crow  Indians, 
who  succeeded  in  capturing  500  more  ponies  from 
the  Nez  Perces.  Joseph  then  retreated  up  the 
Mussel  Shell  River,  back  of  Judith  Mountain,  and 
struck  the  Missouri  at  Cow  Island,  123  miles 
below  Fort  Benton.  Here  they  attacked  the 
guards  and  burned  the  goods  at  the  landing.  A 
force  from  Fort  Benton  came  down  to  attack 


THE  NEZ  PERCES  WARS.  163 

them,  but  gave  up  in  despair  after  a  skirmish  or 
two. 

The  Indians  moved  slowly  northward  and 
encamped  near  the  British  line  on  Snake  Creek. 
The  telegraph  was  fleeter  than  their  ponies.  Col 
onel  Miles  had  left  Fort  Keogh  with  a  large  force 
of  infantry,  cavalry  and  a  deadly  Hotchkiss. 
Joseph  did  not  know  of  this  new  force,  which 
struck  his  trail  at  Cow  Island.  He  was  resting 
in  his  camp,  when  it  was  suddenly  attacked  and 
a  herd  of  800  cattle  cut  off.  Two  battalions  of 
cavalry  charged  upon  his  camp,  but  were  repulsed 
with  the  loss  of  a  fifth  of  their  force.  Miles  then 
disposed  his  forces  so  as  to  surround  the  Indians. 
The  whites  had  the  best  of  the  situation  but  dare 
not  attack,  except  at  long  range  with  shells  from 
the  howitzer.  For  four  days  this  situation  was 
maintained.  The  Indians  could  have  escaped  at 
any  time,  if  they  had  agreed  to  leave  behind  their 
wounded,  and  the  women  and  children.  But  this 
says  Joseph,  "We  were  unwilling  to  do.  We 
never  heard  of  a  wounded  Indian  getting  well 
while  in  the  hands  of  a  white  man." 

Joseph  had  hope  that  Sitting  Bull  would  come 
from  his  camp  over  the  British  line  to 
his  rescue.  To  this  end,  he  waited  and  parlied 
with  General  Miles  for  several  days.  At  length 
he  concluded  to  surrender  all  that  was  left  of  his 


164  THE  NEZ  PERCES  WARS. 

band.  Ollacut,  Dreamer-Drummer,  Too-hul-hul- 
sute,  and  27  others  had  perished  here  at  this  last 
camp.  White  Bird  had  made  his  escape  with  105 
warriors,  and  had  crossed  into  Canada.  Joseph 
made  most  honorable  terms.  He  well  knew  he 
would  have  to  go  on  to  a  reservation,  but  he  got  the 
trip  postponed  till  the  pleasant  weather  of  Spring, 
and  was  not  deprived  of  any  of  his  cattle  or 
effects. 

Of  this  war  General  Sherman  says: — 
"Thus  terminated  one  of  the  most  extraordinary 
Indian  wars  on  record.  The  Indians  throughout 
displayed  a  courage  and  skill  that  elicited  uni 
versal  praise.  They  abstained  from  scalping,  let 
captive  women  free,  did  not  murder  peaceful  fami 
lies  and  fought  with  almost  scientific  skill,  using 
rear  guards,  skirmish  lines  and  field  fortifica 
tions." 


CHAPTER  XVI. 
THE  UTES  OF  WHITE  RIVER. 

IN  1878  the  gold  hunters  of  Colorado  found  not 
gold,   but   silver.      There   was    a    rush    of 

emigrants  thither,  as  in  1849  to  California. 

Leadville  grew  at  the  rate  of  300  persons  a 
day.  Mining  camps  became  thick  as  leaves 
and  small  towns  sprang  up  like  magic.  Onward 
rolled  the  surge  of  migration  till  it  beat 
against  the  barriers  of  the  Ute  reservations. 
Then  arose  the  cry  "  the  Utes  must  go ! " 
Their  lands  were  suspected  of  being  rich  in  min 
erals.  They  were  only  Indians,  and  therefore 
in  the  way.  Any  other  reservation  would  be  good 
enough  for  them. 

In  1879  the  Utes  were  strong  in  numbers,  well 
armed  and  rich  in  horses.  The  mining  popula 
tion  started  a  furore  which  had  for  its  object  the 
expulsion  of  these  Indians.  Men  organized  at 
many  points  to  ward  off  imaginary  attacks. 
They  invented  excuses  for  warlike  demonstrations 
and  conjured  up  grievances  to  be  avenged.  The 

Utes   had   never  been    severely  hostile.       Their 

165 


166  THE  UTES  OP  WHITE  RIVER. 

country  was  not  affected  by  any  of  the  great 
trans-continental  thoroughfares.  Up  until  1863 
the  Government  had  never  thought  of  making  a 
treaty  with  them.  Even  then  it  would  not  have 
been  regarded  as  necessary  but  for  the  fact  that 
a  fragment  of  Utes  had  been  persuaded  by  the 
Navajos  and  Apaches  to  join  them  in  marauding 
expeditions.  This  treaty  of  1863  secured  to  the 
Utes  their  native  lands  in  Western  Colorado.  In 
1868  another  treaty  was  made  which  set  apart  a 
larger  reservation  for  the  entire  Ute  family,  con 
sisting  of  seven  tribes  or  bands.  There  were 
several  agencies  on  the  reservation,  but  the  prin 
cipal  one  was  on  White  River.  It  had  ever 
been  the  desire  of  the  Utes  to  have  a  country  of 
their  own  and  in  giving  it  to  them  the  United 
States  made  its  dedication  most  solemn. 

Scarcely  had  the  Utes  received  their  first  pay 
ments  under  the  treaty  when  the  mines  in  the 
San  Juan  Country  were  discovered  and  miners 
flocked  in  regardless  of  the  fact  that  they  were 
trespassers  on  the  reservation.  A  conflict  occur 
red,  which  was  settled  by  the  diplomatic  old 
Chief  Ouray,  who  agreed  to  cede  a  mining  strip 
in  the  San  Juan  and  Miguel  Countries,  provided 
the  lines  of  the  strip  did  not  cut  off  any  part  of  the 
Uncompahgre  Park.  This  cession  was  ratified 
by  Congress  in  1874.  Ouray's  fears  that  his 


THE  UTES  0V  WHITE  RIVER.  167 

method  of  preserving  peace  would  not  be  justified 
by  the  future  were  speedily  realized.  The  In 
dians  were  outrageously  cheated  in  this  deal. 
The  government  did  not  keep  its  promise  to  pay 
$25,000  annually  forever  for  the  ceded  lands. 
The  lines  of  the  ceded  lands  were  so  arranged  as 
to  deprive  the  Utes  of  some  of  their  best  farming 
lands  and  as  they  ran  nearly  through  the  centre 
of  the  Uncompahgre  Park,  the  Indians  received  no 
equivalent  lands  in  any  other  direction. 
•  Before  the  Indians  could  ascertain  the  magni 
tude  of  their  loss  or  take  any  steps  to  rectify  the 
boundaries  of  their  cession,  their  best  farming 
lands  around  the  mining  towns  were  occupied  by 
settlers  who  refused  to  move.  In  1877  an  order 
was  issued  by  the  War  Department  to  remove 
the  intruders  by  force.  Secretary  Schurz  weak 
ened  on  the  order,  and  gave  the  intruders  six 
months  time.  In  the  Spring  of  1878  a  similar 
order  was  issued,  but  by  this  time  the  settlers 
were  numerous  and  defiant.  They  threatened  to 
precipate  an  Indian  war  if  they  were  interfered 
with  then. 

A  commission  was  organized  to  look  into  the 
difficulty.  It  was  found  that  most  of  the  defiant 
settlers  could  be  appeased  if  the  Government 
would  undertake  to  quiet  their  titles  to  about  four 
square  miles  of  territory.  The  commission  there- 


168  THE  UTES  OF  WHITE  RIVER- 

fore  offered  to  buy  from  the  Utes  enough  to  sat 
isfy  the  present  desires  of  the  settlers,  and  at  the 
same  time  settle  all  troubles  about  the  former 
cessions.  The  Utes  were  stubborn  and  the  com 
mission  failed.  But  a  delegation  of  Utes  was 
brought  to  Washington  the  next  winter,  and, 
under  the  influence  of  the  Capitol  atmosphere, 
they  were  induced  to  acquiesce  in  the  wishes  of 
the  settlers  and  part  with  their  lands. 

These  are  a  few  of  the  events  which  helped  to 
sour  the  Utes  against  the  whites.  Within  the 
reservation  were  factions.  Some  clung  to 
Chief  Ouray,  others  repudiated  his  authority. 
The  White  River  Utes  hardly  recognized  him. 
The  agent  there,  for  reasons  best  known  to  him 
self,  changed  the  agency  to  a  point  fifteen  miles 
down  the  river.  The  White  River's  flew  into  a 
rage  about  it,  and  the  agent,  not  understanding 
their  character,  attempted  to  sustain  himself  by 
playing  off  one  Indian  faction  against  another. 
This  incensed  the  Indians  all  the  more.  Their 
umbrage  became  centered  on  the  agent,  whom 
they  accused  of  wishing  to  interfere  with  their 
customs  and  privileges  and  of  a  design  to  turn 
a  nation  of  hunters  into  ordinary  plowmen. 

One  of  their  number  asssaulted  the  agent  and 
would  have  killed  him  but  for  the  interference  of 
his  employees.  The  agent  wrote  to  Governor 


THE  UTES  OF  WHITE  RIVER.  169 

Pitkin  for  help,  and  gave  it  out  that  nothing  but 
force  would  prove  equal  to  an  occasion  in  which 
all  the  Indians  sympathized.  In  response  to  the 
agent's  request,  three  companies  of  cavalry  and 
one  of  infantry  marched  from  Fort  Fred.  Steele 
toward  the  Ute  reservation.  They  were  com 
manded  by  Major  Thornburg,  and  while  at  the 
Bear  River  Crossing,  they  were  met  by  Chiefs 
Jack,  Colorow  and  three  other  Utes.  They 
asked  why  he  was  coming.  When  told  that  he 
had  been  sent  for  by  the  agent,  they  denied  all 
his  reports,  denied  the  right  of  the  troops  to  enter 
the  reservation  and  asked  that  the  Major  go,  with 
five  companions,  and  ascertain  for  himself  how 
matters  stood.  The  Major  said  he  was  under 
orders,  and  could  only -obey  them.  The  Indians 
then  went  to  the  agent  and  asked  him  to  stop  the 
troops.  He  said  it  was  none  of  his  business,  but 
on  second  thought  he  requested  the  Major  to 
encamp  outside  of  the  reservation  and  come  on 
with  an  escort.  But  unfortunately  the  troops 
had  already  entered  the  reservation  at  Red 
Canyon  and  were  beginning  to  pass  down  the 
canyon.  The  Indians  were,  in  ambush  along  the 
bushy  edges  of  the  ravine.  When  they  were 
discovered  a  parley  was  sought,  in  order  that 
hostilities  might  be  averted.  Chief  Jack  had 
started  from  the  Ute  camp,  with  a  similar  object 


170  THE  UTES-  OF  WHITE  RIVER. 

in  view.  The  parleying  parties  never  met,  for 
firing  began  as  soon  as  the  troops  made  their 
appearance  on  the  upland. 

The  Indians  proved  to  be  in  strong  force. 
Captain  Payne  threw  his  company  into  skirmish 
line  on  the  left,  and  Captain  Lawson  on  the 
right.  The  wagon  train  was  ordered  to  pack. 
The  Indians  pressed  the  troops  hotly.  They 
massed  to  cut  off  the  retreat  of  the  whites  and 
Major  Thornburg  ordered  his  troops  to  fall 
back  on  the  wagon  train.  In  executing  this 
movement  the  Major  was  killed.  Captain  Payne 
took  command  and  instantly  set  the  troops  to 
fortifying.  Pick  and  shovel  went  to  work. 
Dead  horses  were  piled  up  as  breast-works. 
Sacks  of  feed  and  bedding  became  bulwarks  for 
sharp  shooters.  The  men  worked  and  fought 
nobly  amid  the  groans  of  the  wounded  and  dying. 
The  crack  of  the  Indian  rifle  was  heard  on  every 
hand.  The  sage  brush  and  grass  took  fire  and 
the  flames  crept  up  toward  the  breastworks  of 
the  troops.  There  was  no  water  and  the  troopers 
were  forced  to  drop  their  tools  and  weapons  and 
smother  the  fire  with,  their  blankets.  Some  of 
their  wagons  took  fire  and  were  saved  with  diffi 
culty.  The  situation  was  a  desperate  one,  but 
when  the  smoke  lifted  the  very  element  that  had 
proved  so  alarming  turned  out  to  be  a  source  of 


THE  UTES  OF  WHITE  RIVER.  171 

protection.  The  burning  of  the  sedge  had 
destroyed  the  cover  of  the  Indians  and  they  were 
forced  to  seek  the  shelter  of  the  bluffs  which  were 
some  400  yards  distant.  While  they  still  com 
manded  the  situation  they  could  do  but  little 
harm  with  their  rifles  at  that  range. 

Word  of  the  battle  was  sent  to  the  agency  In 
dians  who  kept  it  a  secret  from  the  agent,  in 
whom  they  had  lost  all  confidence.  They  be 
lieved  the  agent  had  deceived  them  as  to  Major 
Thornburg's  expedition  and  intentions,  and  so 
resolved  to  meet  treachery  with  treachery.  That 
night  they  held  a  war  dance.  The  agent  sent  a 
message  next  morning  to  Major  Thornburg,  not 
knowing  he  had  been  killed,  and  the  carrier  was 
escorted  by  two  Indians.  A  few  miles  out  the 
carrier  was  killed  by  his  escort,  Antelope  and 
.Ebenezer,  who  hastened  back  to  the  agency. 
Meanwhile  the  Indians  there  had  broken  into  the 
storeroom  and  helped  themselves  to  agency  guns 
and  ammunition.  Twenty  of  them  then  started 
out  to  meet  Antelope  and  Ebenezer.  When  they 
had  met  them  all  returned  and  immediately 
opened  fire  on  the  agency.  Several  of  the  em 
ployees  fell  at  the  first  fire,  and  the  rest  with  their 
families  sought  the  cover  of  the  respective  houses. 
The  battle  raged  at  intervals  throughout  the  day, 
the  Indians  plundering  the  stores  during  the 


172  THE  UTES  OF  WHITE  RIVER. 

lulls.  At  night  they  fired  several  of  the  build 
ings.  This  drove  men,  women  and  children  from 
their  covers,  and  in  the  indiscriminate  firing 
which  followed  many  of  the  women  and  children 
were  shot.  The  rest,  including  the  agents  wife,, 
were  taken  captive.  The  wreck  of  the  agency 
was  complete. 

Chief  Ouray  was  out  on  a  hunting  expedition 
with  his  band  while  these  atrocities  were  going 
on.  On  hearing  of  them  he  returned  at  once  to 
Los  Pinos  and  prepared  an  order  to  the  White 
River  Chiefs  to  stop  fighting.  Its  bearer,  Joseph 
Brady,  bore  it  to  the  hostiles  who  at  once  agreed 
to  obey.  Brady  also  communicated  with  the 
soldiers,  who  were  still  holding  desperately'  to 
their  position  near  the  mouth  of  the  Red  Canyon. 
They  had  been  re-inforced  by  Dodge's  company 
of  colored  troops,  who  were  doing  good  work  in 
strengthening  the  fortifications.  Further  re-in- 
forcernents  came  in  under  Colonel  Merritt,  who 
took  entire  command.  He  found  that  the  losses 
thus  far  footed  up  13  killed  and  43  wounded. 
The  Indians  were  preparing  to  engage  Merritt 
when  Ouray 's  order  reached  them.  There  was 
no  more  regular  fighting,  though  several  valuable 
lives  were  lost  in  desultory  skirmishing. 

Very  soon  Merritt  marched  his  command  to 
White  River  Agency.  All  along  his  line  of 


THE  UTES  OF  WHITE  RIVBR.  173 

march  were  evidences  of  the  fury  of  the  Indians, 
in  the  shape  of  dead  bodies,  and  the  agency  was 
a  scene  of  desolation.  Every  building,  except 
one,  had  been  burned.  No  sign  of  life  appeared 
and  the  ground  was  strewn  with  articles  of  every 
kind.  Every  here  and  there  were  the  bodies  of  the 
victims.  The  body  of  the  agent  was  found  one 
hundred  yards  from  his  house  with  a  bullet  hole 
through  his  brain,  a  barrel  stave  thrust  into  his 
mouth  and  a  chain  around  his  neck.  The  burial 
of  the  dead,  some  of  whose  bodies  had  been  eaten 
by  wolves,  occupied  the  time  of  the  troops  for  a 
day  after  their  arrival. 

The  next  object  was  to  recover  the  captive 
women.  Special  agent  Adams  was  sent  with  an 
escort  of  15  Utes  to  the  camp  of  the  hostiles  to 
effect  their  release.  The  hostiles  gave  them  a 
stormy  welcome.  Some  were  in  favor  of  surren 
dering  them  and  keeping  peace,  the  rest 
wished  to  kill  Adams  and  go  on  with  the  war. 
Fortunately  the  wife  of  one  of  the  hostiles  was 
a  sister  of  Ouray,  and  the  wife  of  another  had  been 
cured  of  a  serious  illness  by  Mrs.  Meeker,  wife  of 
the  agent  at  White  River.  These  stood  out  for 
the  release  of  the  captives.  All  in  all,  peaceful 
counsels  got  the  upper  hand,  and  the  captives  were 
released.  They  stated  that  they  had  been  treated 
with  consideration  by  their  captors. 


174  THE  UTES  OF  WHITE  RIVER, 

There  was  now  no  father  use  for  the  troops  on 
the  reservation  and  they  were  withdrawn.  Sub 
sequently  two  commissions  appointed  to  investi 
gate  the  trouble  and  demand  the  surrender  of  the 
ring-leaders  for  punishment,  sat  through  tedious 
sessions.  They  could  get  no  satisfaction  and 
arrived  at  no  conclusion.  But  the  upshot  of  the 
whole  affair  was  that  in  1880,  the  Utes  were  given 
seperate  reservations,  according  to  their  bands,  and 
those  of  the  White  River  were  placed  under  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  Uintah  Agency. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 
MESSIAH   CRAZE  AND  GHOST  DANCE. 

VEN  with  Indians,  a  war  must  have  a  reason. 
We  may  call  the  recent  demonstrations 
by  the  Sioux  and  kindred  tribes,  a  craze, 
an  uprising,  a  war,  or  by  what  name  we 
please  ;  it  is  fuller  of  meaning  for  the  white  race 
and  for  the  Federal  Government  than  anything 
that  goes  to  make  the  weird  chapters  of  Indian 
annals.  And  it  is  being  studied,  too,  from  many 
standpoints,  all  of  which  are  sources  of  light. 

For  many  months  we  read  of  Indian  distur 
bances  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Pine  Ridge 
reservation,  a  reservation  devoted  to  the  powerful 
Sioux  tribe,  or  such  of  it  as  can  be  induced  to 
stay  on  it.  These  disturbances  grew  more  fre 
quent  and  pronounced.  They  extended  more 
widely,  till  they  embraced  several  of  the  neigh 
boring  tribes  who  are  akin  to  the  Sioux.  By 
and  by  the  various  reservations  seemed  to  be 
ablaze  with  excitement.  The  Indians  left  their 
reservations  and  began  to  cluster  as  armed  bands. 
There  was  every  evidence  of  a  great  conspiracy 
for  some  bloody  purpose.  Settlers  left  their 

homes  and  rushed  to  the  agencies  and  forts  for 

175 


176  MESSIAH  CRAZE  AND  GHOST  DANCE. 

protection.  States  and  the  general  Government 
put  their  troops  on  a  war  footing.  It  looked  as 
though  there  might  be  a  gigantic  and  bloody  In 
dian  war.  But  preparation  proved  to  be  timely, 
thanks  to  large  facilities  for  transportation  and  a 
wise  concentration  of  forces. 

The  Sioux  represent  one  of  the  largest  and 
bravest  tribes  of  the  Northwest.  For  thirteen 
years,  what  may  be  called  the  respectable  portion 
of  the  tribe,  has  lived  on  its  reservation,  has 
come  to  own  horses  and  cattle,  and  has  sent 
many  of  its  children  to  eastern  schools  for  an 
education.  It  is  a  tribe  in  which  missionaries 
have  worked  with  success,  and  have  imparted  a 
fair  degree  of  moral  culture  and  Christian 
doctrine.  Therefore,  it  is  hardly  to  be  expected 
that  it  would  plunge  into  war  without  a  reason. 

The  real  beginning  of  the  uprising  dates  from 
the  visit  of  the  Sioux  to  the  Utes  in  Utah.  The 
religion  of  the  Utes  is  a  graft  of  Christianity  on 
their  own  mythology,  and  one  of  its  solemnities 
is  the  superstitious  dance,  resembling  the  Sun 
dance  of  old. 

But  although  this  dance  was  brought  back 
with  the  Sioux,  it  was,  when  in  its  infancy, 
purely  of  a  religious  character,  and  it  was  only 
when  the  medicine  men  and  politicians  in  the 
nation  began  to  enlarge  upon  the  wrongs  suffered 


MESSIAH  CRAZE  AND  GHOST  DANCE.  177 

at  the  hands  of  the  whites,  the  scarcity  of  food, 
the  presence  of  the  military,  that  its  general 
aspect  was  changed  from  the  sacred  rite  to  a 
warlike  demonstration.  But  for  these  com 
plications  and  the  lack  of  prompt  action  on 
the  part  of  prominent  officials,  the  craze  might 
have  been  easily  suppressed,  and  the  dancers 
returned  to  their  camps  on  the  agency  creeks 
without  any  trouble  whatever. 

The  Indians  located  in  the  Dakotas  have  been 
in  the  habit  of  visiting  the  Utes  and  Arrapahoes 
every  summer  for  the  purpose  of  trading  and 
hunting  en  route.  While  the  Sioux  are  unable  to 
converse  with  these  tribes,  means  of  communica 
tion  is  possible  through  the  medium  of  the  sign- 
language,  which  is  well  understood  by  all  Indians 
throughout  the  West.  Keeps  the  Battle  (Kicizapi 
Tawa)  relates  that  it  was  during  the  visit  of  the 
Pine  Ridge  Sioux,  in  July,  1890,  that  he  first 
heard  of  the  coming  of  the  new  Messiah.  His 
story  as  told  by  a  correspondent  of  the  "  Illus 
trated  American"  which  periodical  we  must  also 
credit  with  other  valuable  facts  in  connection 
with  the  Messiah  craze,  is  as  follows  : — 
-*  "  Scarcely  had  my  people  reached  the  Ute  vil 
lage  when  we  heard  of  a  white  preacher  whom  the 
Utes  held  in  the  highest  esteem,  who  told  a  beau 
tiful  dream  or  vision  of  the  coming  of  a  great  and 


i;8  MESSIAH  CRAZE  AND  GHOST  DANCE. 

good  red  man.  This  strange  person  was  to  set 
aright  the  wrongs  of  my  people  ;  he  could  restore 
to  us  our  game  and  hunting-grounds,  was  so  pow 
erful  that  every  wish  or  word  he  gave  utterance 
to  became  fulfilled. 

His  teachings  had  a  strange  effect  upon  the 
Utes,  and,  in  obedience  to  the  commands  of  this 
man,  they  began  a  Messiah  Dance.  My  people 
did  not  pay  much  attention  to  this  dance  at  first, 
and  it  was  not  until  we  took  our  departure  that 
the  matter  began  to  weigh  heavily  upon  the  minds 
of  a  number  in  the  party.  As  we  left  the  Ute 
camp  the  minister  stood  with  uplifted  hands  and 
invoked  the  blessing  of  the  Great  Spirit  upon  us. 
He  told  us  to  look  for  the  coming  of  the  Saviour, 
and  assured  us  that  he  would  soon  and  unexpect 
edly  arrive.  He  further  cautioned  us  to  be  watch 
ing  and  ready  to  accompany  him  to  the  bright 
and  Happy  Hunting  Grounds,  to  be  sorry  for  our 
sins,  to  institute  a  Messiah  Dance  among  our  peo 
ple  at  Pine  Ridge,  and  to  keep  up  this  dance  until 
the  Lord  himself  should  appear." 

Immediately  upon  the  arrival  of  the  hunting- 
party  at  Pine  Ridge,  a  small  dance  was  held  in 
imitation  of  the  ones  they  had  seen  while  among 
the  Utes,  but  until  the  medicine  men  began  to 
superintend  the  ceremonies  nothing  unusual 
occurred.  The  dances  were  held  every  few  days 


GEN.  NELSON  A.  MILES. 


MESSIAH  CRAZE  AND  GHOST  DANCE.  i?9 

until  the  middle  of  August.  Then,  with  scarcely 
any  warning,  a  wild  and  general  desire  took  pos 
session  of  a  large  part  of  the  nation  to  welcome 
the  expected  Messiah  the  moment  he  set  foot 
upon  earth.  The  agent,  then  at  the  agency,  fear 
ing  that  the  enthusiasm  of  the  Sioux  might 
terminate  in  an  outbreak,  visited  White  Bird's 
camp  accompanied  by  fourteen  Indian  police.  As 
he  approached  the  village,  twenty  savage  fellows 
sprang  out  of  the  brush,  and,  drawing  their  Win 
chesters,  called  upon  him  to  halt.  They  would 
not  permit  him  to  advance,  and  compelled  the 
party  to  turn  about  and  retrace  its  footsteps  to 
the  agency,  threatening  death  should  Galagher 
attempt  to  interfere  with  their  dance. 

The  news  of  this  bold  action  spread  like  wild 
fire  through  the  country,  and,  being  heralded  and 
exaggerated  by  the  daily  press,  caused  many  an 
uneasy  and  timid  settler  to  prepare  his  goods  for 
shipment  to  the  nearest  point  upon  the  rail 
road. 

The  news  of  the  failure  of  the  agent  to  stop 
the  Messiah  Dance  was  carried  by  couriers  to  the 
Indians  at  Rosebud  and  Standing  Rock  Reserva 
tions,  and  the  more  susceptible  Indians  became 
infatuated  with  the  new  fad.  Meetings  and 
dances  were  arranged  at  points  distant  from  the 
agency  posts,  in  order  that  no  employee  might 


i8o  MESSIAH  CRAZE  AND  GHOST  DANCE. 

interfere.  Of  course,  both  the  Sioux  and  th<_ 
whites  were  much  excited.  The  former  were 
ready  and  willing  to  throw  off  forever  the  odious 
yoke  of  oppression ;  the  latter,  fearful  for  the 
safety  of  their  homes  and  families.  If  the  dances 
continued  to  be  religious  and  there  was  nothing 
of  a  warlike  nature  introduced,  there  could  be  no 
objection  to  the  Sioux  dancing  as  long  and  as 
hard  as  they  desired.  But  older  residents,  and 
those  acquainted  with  Indian  warfare,  knew  well 
that  an  outbreak  was  always  preceded  by  a  series 
of  dances.  While  these  men  were  quite  familiar 
with  Indian  nature,  they  failed  to  discern  between 
a  religious  ceremony  and  a  war  dance.  Hence 
the  very  grave  error  followed  of  accusing  many 
friendly  Indians,  who  had  joined  the  dance  for  no 
other  purpose  than  worship,  of  hostile  intentions. 
This  accusation,  coupled  with  the  arrival  of  some 
four  or  five  times  as  many  troops  as  were  neces 
sary  to  subdue  the  small  number  of  lodges 
which  later  fled  into  the  borders  of  the  Bad 
Lands,  had  the  effect  of  turning  the  more  timid 
toward  the  agency,  while  the  braver  middle-aged 
and  young  men  fled  to  the  northward. 

The  aged  Red  Cloud,  a  chief  of  the  Sioux, 
thus  describes  the  beginning  of  the  Messiah 
craze :/ — 


MESSIAH  CRAZE  AND  GHOST  DANCE.  181 

"  We  felt  that  we  were  mocked  in  our  misery. 
We  had  no  newspapers  and  no  one  to  speak  for 
us.  We  had  no  redress.  Our  rations  were  again 
reduced.  You  who  eat  three  times  each  day,  and 
see  your  children  well  and  happy  around  you, 
can't  understand  what  starving  Indians  feel.  We 
were  faint  with  hunger  and  maddened  by  despair. 
We  held  our  dying  children,  and  felt  their  little 
bodies  tremble  as  their  souls  went  out  and  left 
only  a  dead  weight  in  our  hands.  They  were  not 
very  heavy,  but  we  ourselves  were  very  faint,  and 
the  dead  weighed  us  down.  There  was  no  hope 
on  earth,  and  God  seemed  to  have  forgotten  us. 
Some  one  had  again  been  talking  of  the  Son  of 
God,  and  said  He  had  come.  The  people  did  not 
know ;  they  did  not  care.  They  snatched  at  the 
hope.  They  screamed  like  crazy  men  to  Him  for 
mercy.  They  caught  at  the  promises  they  heard 
He  had  made." 

It  is  quite  natural  to  suppose  that  the  agent 
was  not  a  little  frightened  at  his  reception  near 
"White  Bird's"  camp,  and,  as  subsequent  events 
would  seem  to  indicate,  he  feared  to  assert  his 
authority  and  compel  the  Sioux  to  discontinue 
their  dance.  He  hoped  that  in  time  the  craze 
would  die  out  without  interference  on  his  part. 
But,  instead  of  ceasing,  the  numbers  participating 


I8a  MESSIAH  CRAZE  AND  GHOST  DANCE- 

increased,  and  really  things  began  to  assume  a 
very  threatening  aspect. 

The  dancers  were  not  slow  to  take  advantage 
of  non-interference,  and  a  report  gained  wide  cir 
culation  to  the  effect  that  their  agent  was  afraid 
to  command  the  police  to  arrest  the  principals  in 
the  dance.  The  medicine  men  and  Indians  of 
the  same  stamp  as  the  late  Sitting  Bull  addressed 
the  young  men  somewhat  after  the  following 
manner : — 

"  Do  you  not  see  that  the  whites  on  the  reserva 
tion  are  afraid  of  you  ?  Why  do  you  pray  to 
great  Wakantanka  to  send  the  Saviour  on  earth 
and  bring  about  a  change  when  the  remedy  lies 
in  your  own  hands  ?  Be  men,  not  children.  You 
have  a  perfect  right  to  dance  upon  your  own  res 
ervation  as  much  as  you  please,  and  you  should 
exercise  this  right,  even  if  you  find  it  necessary 
to  use  your  guns.  Be  brave,  and  the  great  and 
good  Wakantanka  will  aid  your  arms.  Be  cow 
ards,  and  he  will  be  ashamed  of  you." 

When  the  Ghost  or  Messiah  Dance  was  first 
given  on  Pine  Ridge  Reservation  by  the  Sioux 
who  had  been  in  Utah  on  a  visit  to  the  Ute  Indi 
ans,  there  were  many  on-lookers.  These  became 
interested  as  the  dance  proceeded,  for  such  was  its 
influence  upon  a  beholder  that  he  felt  an  irresis 
tible  desire  to  join  the  circle. 


MESSIAH  CRAZE  AND  GHOST  DANCE.  183 

The  largest  camp  of  the  dancers  prior  to  the 
departure  for  the  north  was  located  on  Wonnded 
Knee  Creek.  Other  camps  of  considerable  extent 
existed  upon  White  Clay  Creek,  four  miles  from 
the  agency  headquarters,  upon  Porcupine  and 
Medicine  Root  streams. 

When  the  medicine  men  took  the  Ghost  Dance 
under  their  charge  one  man  was  appointed 
"  High  Priest,"  to  have  entire  control  of  the  cere 
monies.  His  four  assistants  were  likewise  in 
vested  with  power  to  start  or  stop  the  dance  at 
will.  They  were  given  authority  to  punish 
any  person  who  should  refuse  to  obey  their 
commands. 

While  the  priests  are  employed  in  their  prayers 
the  squaws  make  a  good-sized  sweat-house.  Poles 
are  stuck  in  the  ground  and  the  tops  bent 
together  and  securely  tied.  These  saplings  are 
strong  enough  to  bear  the  weight  of  several  hun 
dred  pounds.  Over  the  framework  are  heaped 
blankets  and  robes  to  such  a  thickness  that  no 
smoke  or  steam  can  pass  from  the  interior.  A 
fire  is  started  in  a  hole  in  the  ground  several 
feet  from  the  small  entrance  to  the  sweat-lodge, 
and  twenty  or  thirty  good-sized  stones  are  placed 
therein  to  be  heated.  When  these  rocks  have 
become  sufficiently  hot,  the  young  men  who  are 
to  partake  of  the  bath,  strip,  with  the  exception 


i84  MESSIAH  CRAZE  AND  GHOST  DANCE. 

of  the  breech-clout,  and  crawl  through  the  door. 
They  seat  themselves  in  a  circle,  with  their  feet 
toward  the  centre  and  their  backs  against  the 
sides  of  the  lodge.  The  attendant  shoves  some 
of  the  hot  stones  inside,  and  the  young  men  pour 
water  from  a  hide-bucket  upon  the  little  stone 
heap.  Steam  and  vapor  arise,  completely  filling 
the  enclosure.  The  attendant  has  meanwhile 
covered  the  opening  so  that  no  air  from  the  out 
side  may  penetrate.  As  the  vapor  condenses,  the 
attendant  thrusts  more  stones  within,  and  thus 
the  operation  is  continued  as  long  as  the  youths 
can  stand  the  confinement.  The  pipe  is  also 
smoked  during  the  sweat.  When  the  young 
men  issue  from  their  bath  the  perspiration  is 
fairly  streaming  from  every  pore.  If  it  is  not 
cold  weather  they  plunge  into  a  pool  in  the  creek 
near  by,  but  if  it  be  chilly  they  wrap  blankets 
about  their  bodies.  None  of  the  whites  and  half- 
breeds  who  have  witnessed  these  things  ever  saw 
a  Sioux  rub  himself  after  issuing  from  the  bath. 
Several  sweat-houses  are  erected  in  order  to 
prepare  the  young  men  for  the  dance.  When  a 
good  number  of  young  men,  say  fifty  or  sixty, 
have  thus  prepared  themselves,  the  high-priest 
and  his  assistants  come  forward,  The  high- 
priest  wears  eagle-feathers  in  his  hair,  and  a  short 
skirt  reaches  from  his  waist  nearly  to  his  knees. 


MESSIAH  CRAZE  AND  GHOST  DANCE.  185 

The  assistants  are  dressed  in  a  similar  manner, 
but  wear  no  ornaments  other  than  the  eagle- 
feathers.  The  dancers  wear  no  ornaments  what 
ever  and  enter  the  circle  without  their  blankets, 
many  of  them  only  wearing  their  ordinary 
clothes. 

That  Indians  should  lay  aside  all  ornaments 
and  finery,  and  dance  without  the  trappings 
which  they  so  dearly  love,  proves  conclusively 
that  some  powerful  religious  influence  is  at  work. 
In  their  other  dances,  the  Omaha,  the  Old 
Woman,  the  Sun,  and  War  Dances,  feathers  and 
bangles,  weapons,  herbs  or  painted  and  plaited 
grasses,  porcupine  quills,  horses'  tails  and  bits 
of  fur-skins,  necklaces,  bells,  silver  disks,  etc., 
are  worn  in  great  profusion. 

The  candidates  for "  conversion"  do  not  fast, 
as  has  often  been  stated.  After  they  have  come 
forth  from  the  sweat-house  they  are  ready  to 
enter  the  sacred  circle.  The  high-priest  runs 
quickly  from  the  village  to  the  open  space  of 
ground,  five  or  six  hundred  yards  distant,  and 
stationing  himself  near  the  sacred  tree,  begins 
his  chant  as  follows  : 

Hear,  hear  you  all  persons  » 

Come,  hurry  up  and  dance,  and  when  you  have 
finished  running  in  the  circle,  tell  these  people 
what  you  have  seen  in  the  spirit  land. 


i86  MESSIAH  CRAZE  AND  GHOST  DANCE. 

I  myself  have  been  in  the  spirit  land  and  have 
seen  many  strange  and  beautiful  things,  all  of 
which  great  Wakantanka  rules  over  and  which 
my  eyes  tell  me  are  good  and  true. 

As  the  speaker  proceeds,  the  men  and  women 
leave  their  tepees  and  crowd  to  the  dance-ground. 
They  form  two  or  three  circles,  according  to  the 
number  of  persons  who  wish  to  participate,  and, 
grasping  hands  with  fingers  interlocked  ("Indian 
grip"),  the  circles  begin  to  move  around  toward 
the  left.  They  rub  their  palms  in  dust  or  sand  to 
prevent  slipping,  for  it  is  considered  unlucky  for 
one  to  break  connections. 

The  sacred  tree  is  a  nearly  straight  sapling 
thirty  or  forty  feet  high,  trimmed  of  branches  to 
a  height  of  several  feet.  To  the  topmost  twigs 
is  attached  a  small  white  flag  or  canvas  strip, 
supposed  to  be  an  emblem  of  purity,  together 
with  some  of  colors.  The  base  of  the  tree  is 
wrapped  with  rushes  and  flags  to  a  thickness  of 
about  five  feet.  Between  the  reeds  the  dancers 
from  time  to  time  thrust  little  gifts  or  peace-offer 
ings.  These  offerings  are  supposed  to  allay  the 
anger  of  the  Great  Spirit,  and  are  given  in  per 
fectly  good  faith  by  the  poor  natives.  They  con 
sist  of  small  pieces  of  calico,  bags  of  tobacco  or 
pipes.  During  the  heat  of  excitement,  those 
worshippers  most  deeply  affected  cut  small  parti- 


MESSIAH  CRAZE  AND  GHOST  DANCE.  287 

cles  of  flesh  from  their  arms,  and  thrust  these, 
also,  between  the  rushes  of  the  holy  tree. 

As  the  circle  moves  toward  the  left,  the  priest 
and  his  assistants  cry  out  loudly  for  the  dancers 
to  stop  a  moment.  As  tKey  pause  he  raises  his 
hands  towards  the  west,  and  upon  all  the  people 
acting  similarly,  begins  the  following  remarka 
ble  prayer : 

Great  Spirit,  look  at  us  now.  Grandfather  and 
Grandmother  have  come.  All  these  good  people 
are  going  to  see  Wakantanka,  but  they  will  be 
brought  safely  back  to  earth.  Everything  that 
is  good  you  will  see  there,  and  you  can  have 
these  things  by  going  there.  All  things  that  you 
hear  there  will  be  holy  and  true,  and  when  you 
return  you  can  tell  your  friends  how  spiritual  it 
is. 

As  he  prays,  the  dancers  cry  aloud  with  all  the 
fervor  of  religious  fanatics.  They  moan  and  sob, 
many  of  them  exclaiming :  "Great  Father,  I  want 
you  to  have  pity  upon  me." 

One  can  scarcely  imagine  tae  terrible  earnest 
ness  of  these  people.  The  scene  of  the  dance, 
especially  at  night,  is  most  weird  and  ghost-like. 
The  fires  are  very  large,  and  shed  a  bright  reflec 
tion  all  around.  The  breasts  of  the  worshippers 
heave  with  emotion ;  they  groan  and  cry  as  if 
they  were  suffering  great  agony,  and  as  the  priest 


188  MESSIAH  CRAZE  AND  GHOST  DANCE. 

begs  them  to  ask  great  Wakantanka  to  forgive 
their  sins,  such  a  cry  of  despair  and  anguish 
arises  as  to  deeply  affect  even  the  whites  present. 
After  prayer  and  weeping,  and  offerings  have 
been  made  to  the  sacred  pole,  the  dance  is  started 
again.  The  dancers  go  rather  slowly  at  first,  and 
as  the  priests  in  the  centre  begin  to  shout 
and  leap  about,  the  dancers  partake  of  the  en 
thusiasm.  Instead  of  moving  with  a  regular 
step,  each  person  jumps  backward  and  forward, 
up  and  down,  as  hard  as  he  or  she  can  without 
relinquishing  their  hold  upon  their  neighbor's 
hand.  One  by  one  the  dancers  fall  out  of  the  ranks, 
some  staggering  like  drunken  men,  others  wildly 
rushing  here  and  there  almost  bereft  of  reason. 
Many  fall  upon  the  earth  to  writhe  about  as  if 
possessed  of  demons,  while  blinded  women  throw 
their  clothes  over  their  heads  and  run  through 
brush  or  against  trees.  The  priests  are  "kept 
busy  waving  eagle-feathers  in  the  faces  of  the 
most  violent  worshippers.  The  feather  is  con 
sidered  sacred,  and  its  use,  together  with  the 
mesmeric  glance  and  motion  of  the  priest,  soon 
causes  the  victim  to  fall  into  a  trance  or  deep 
sleep.  Whether  this  sleep  is  real  or  feigned  the 
writer  does  not  pretend  to  say,  but  sufficiently 
deep  is  it  that  whites  visiting  the  dance  have 
been  unable  to  rouse  the  sleepers  by  jest  or  blow. 


MESSIAH  CRAZE  AND  GHOST  DANCE.  189 

Unquestionably  the  priests  exercise  an  in 
fluence  over  the  more  susceptible  of  the  dancers 
akin  to  hypnotism.  One  of  the  young  men,  who 
danced  in  the  ghost  circle  twenty  times,  narrates 
that  the  priest  "  Looked  very  hard  at  us.  Some 
of  the  young  men  and  women  could  not  with 
stand  his  snake-like  gaze,  and  did  whatever  he 
told  them." 

Regarding  what  is  seen  by  the  converts  when 
in  the  spirit  land  there  is  much  speculation. 

Little  Wound  gives  his  experience  thus: 
"  When  I  fell  in  the  trance  a  great  and  grand 
eagle  came  and  carried  me  over  a  great  hill, 
where  there  was  a  village  such  as  we  used  to  have 
before  the  whites  cam'e  into  the  country.  The 
tepees  were  all  of  buffalo  hides,  and  we  made  use 
of  the  bow  and  arrow,  there  being  nothing  of 
white  man's  manufacture  in  the  beautiful  land. 
Nor  were  any  whites  permitted  to  live  there. 
The  broad  and  fertile  lands  stretched  in  every 
direction,  and  were  most  pleasing  to  my  eyes. 

I  was  taken  into  the  presence  of  the  great 
Messiah,  and  he  spoke  to  me  these  words  : 

"  My  child,  I  am  glad  to  see  you.  Do  •  you 
want  to  see  your  children  and  relations  who 
are  dead  ?» 

I  replied :  "Yes,  I  would  like  to  see  my  rela 
tions  who  have  been  dead  a  long  time."  The 


190  MESSIAH  CRAZE  AND  GHOST  DANCE. 

God  then  caned  my  friends  to  come  up  to  where 
I  was.  They  appeared,  riding  the  finest  horses 
I  ever  saw,  dressed  in  superb  and  most  brilliant 
garments,  and  seeming  very  happy.  As  they 
approached,  I  recognized  the  playmates  of  my 
childhood,  and  I  ran  forward  to  embrace  them 
while  the  tears  of  joy  ran  down  my  cheeks. 

We  all  went  together  to  another  village,  where 
there  were  very  large  lodges  of  buffalo  hide,  and 
there  held  a  long  talk  with  the  great  Wakantanka. 
Then  he  had  some  squaws  prepare  us  a  meal  of 
many  herbs,  meats,  and  wild  fruits  and  "wasna" 
(pounded  beef  and  choke-cherries) .  After  we  had 
eaten,  the  Great  Spirit  prayed  for  our  people 
upon  the  earth,  and  then  we  all  took  a  smoke 
out  of  a  fine  pipe  ornamented  with  the  most 
beautiful  feathers  and  porcupine  quills.  Then 
we  left  the  city  and  looked  into  a  great  valley 
where  there  were  thousands  of  buffalo,  deer,  and 
elk  feeding. 

After  seeing  the  valley,  we  returned  to  tho 
city,  the  Great  Spirit  speaking  meanwhile.  HA 
told  me  that  the  earth  was  now  bad  and  worn  out ; 
that  we  needed  a  new  dwelling-place  where  the 
rascally  whites  could  not  disturb  us.  He  further 
instructed  me  to  return  to  niy  people,  the  Sioux, 
and  say  to  them  that  if  they  would  be  constant 
in  the  dance  and  pay  no  attention  to  the  whites 


MESSIAH  CRAZE  AND  GHOST  DANCE.  191 

*he  would  shortly  come  to  their  aid.  If  the  high 
priests  would  make  for  the  dancers  medicine 
shirts  and  pray  over  them,  no  harm  could  come 
to  the  wearer ;  that  the  bullets  of  any  whites  that 
desired  to  stop  the  Messiah  Dance  would  fall  to 
the  ground  without  doing  any  one  harm,  and  the 
person  firing  such  shots  would  drop  dead.  He 
said  that  he  had  prepared  a  hole  in  the  ground 
filled  with  hot  water  and  fire  for  the  reception  of 
all  white  men  and  non-believers.  With  these 
parting  words  I  was  commanded  to  return  to 
earth." 

There  are  intermissions  every  hour  in  the  pro 
gress  of  the  dance,  and  during  these  pauses 
several  pipes  are  passed  around.  Each  smoker 
blows  a  cloud  upward  toward  the  supposed  dwell 
ing-place  of  the  Messiah.  He  inhales  deep 
draughts  of  the  fragrant  smoke  of  red  willow- 
bark  into. his  lungs,  blows  it  out  through  his  nose, 
and  then  passes  the  pipe  to  his  neighbor. 

The  songs  are  sung  without  accompaniment  01 
a  drum,  as  is  customary  in  the  other  dances.  All 
sing  in  unison,  and  the  notes,  although  wild  and 
peculiar,  being  in  a  minor  key,  do  not  lack 
melody. 

Just  after  the  dancers  have  been  crying  and 
moaning  about  their  sins  the  priests  strike  up 
the  first  song,  in  which  all  join,  singing  with 


192  MESSIAH  CRAZE  AND  GHOST  DANCE. 

deafening  loudness.  Some  man  or  woman  may 
be  at  this  moment  at  the  tree,  with  his  or  her 
arms  thrown  about  the  rushes,  sobbing  as  if  the 
heart  would  break  ;  or  another  may  be  walking 
and  crying,  wringing  his  hands,  or  going  through 
some  motion  to  indicate  the  deepest  sorrow  for 
his  transgressions.  So  the  singer  cries  aloud  to 
his  mother  to  be  present  and  aid  him.  The 
appeal  to  the  father  refers,  of  course,  to  the 
Messiah,  and  its  use  in  this  connection  is  sup 
posed  to  give  emphasis  to  the  demand  for  the 
mother's  presence  and  hasten  her  coming. 

The  second  song  expresses  in  brief  the  good 
ness  of  the  father.  Some  one  of  the  dancers  has 
come  to  life  from  the  trance,  and  has  just  related 
his  or  her  experience  in  the  other  world.  The 
Messiah,  or  Father,  has  been  very  near  to  the 
subject,  and  the  high-priest,  enlarging  upon  the 
importance  of  this  fact,  runs  about  the  interior 
of  the  circle  handing  several  pipes  around,  ex 
claiming  that  these  pipes  were  received  direct 
from  the  Great  Spirit,  and  that  all  who  smoke 
them  will  live.  The  people  are  worked  up  to 
such  a  pitch  of  religious  frenzy  that  their  minds 
are  now  willing  to  receive  any  utterance  as  truth 
undisputable,  so  they  pass  around  the  pipes, 
singing  the  song  meanwhile.  The  repetition  of 


MESSIAH  CRAZE  AND  GHOST  DANCE.  193 

the  words,  "  This  the  father  said,"  gives  more 
weight  to  the  song. 

One  of  the  visions  seen  oy  a  young  woman, 
when  under  the  influence  of  the  trance,  varied 
somewhat  from  the  others.  Her  story  runs 
thus : — 

"  I  was  carried  into  the  beautiful  land  as  others 
have  been,  and  there  I  saw  a  small  but  well-made 
lodge  constructed  entirely  of  rushes  and  reeds. 
These  were  woven  closely  together  and  resembled 
the  fine  basket-work  that  many  of  our  squaws 
make  during  the  winter.  The  tepee  was  provi 
ded  with  a  stone  wall,  which  was  composed  of 
small,  flat  stones  laid  up  against  the  wall  to  the 
height  of  three  or  four  feet.  In  this  lodge  the 
great  Wakantanka  dwelt  and  would  issue  forth 
at  noon.  Promptly  at  the  time  when  the  sun 
was  above  me  the  lodge  trembled  violently  and 
then  began  its  descent  toward  the  earth.  It  landed 
near  the  dance-ground,  and  there  stepped  forth  a 
man  clothed  in  a  blanket  of  rabbit-hides.  This 
was  the  Messiah,  and  he  had  come  to  save  us." 

The  vision  of  Little  Horse  is  still  more  remark 
able. 

"  Two  holy  eagles  transported  me  to  the  Happy 
Hunting  Grounds.  They  showed  me  the  Great 
Messiah  there,  and  as  I  looked  upon  his  fair 
countenance  I  wept,  for  there  were  nail-prints  in 


194  MESSIAH  CRASH  AND  GHOST  DANCK. 

his  hands  and  feet  where  the  cruel  whites  had  once 
fastened  him  to  a  large  cross.  There  was  a  small 
wound  in  his  side  also,  but  as  he  kept  himself 
covered  with  a  beautiful  mantle  of  feathers  this 
wound  only  could  be  seen  when  he  shifted  his 
blanket.  He  insisted  that  we  continue  the 
dance,  and  promised  me  that  no  whites  should 
enter  his  city  nor  partake  of  the  good  things  he 
had  prepared  for  the  Indians.  The  earth,  he 
said,  was  now  worn  out  and  it  should  be  re- 
peopled. 

He  had  a  long  beard  and  long  hair  and  was 
the  most  handsome  man  I  ever  looked  upon." 

The  personal  experience  of  the  Weasel  may 
be  of  interest: 

'  While  dancing  I  saw  no  visions,  but  the  other 
Indians  told  me  to  not  think  of  anything  in 
particular,  but  keep  my  eyes  fastened  upon  the 
priests,  and  soon  I  would  see  all  that  they  saw. 

'*  The  first  large  dance  held  was  on  Wounded 
Knee  Creek  under  the  guidance  of  Big  Road.  I 
attended  this  one,  but  did  not  observe  Two  Strike 
in  the  audience.  We  had  been  dancing  irreg 
ularly  for  several  weeks  when  a  runner  came  into 
camp  greatly  excited,  one  night,  and  said  that 
the  soldiers  had  arrived  at  Pine  Ridge  and  were 
sent  by  the  Great  Father  at  Washington.  The 
priests  called  upon  the  young  men  at  this  June 


MESSIAH  CRAZE  AND  GHOST  DANCE.  *95 

ture  not  to  become  angry  but  to  continue  the 
dance,  but  have  horses  ready  so  that  all  could 
flee  were  the  military  to  charge  the  village.  So 
we  mounted  our  ponies  and  rode  around  the  hills 
all  night  singing  our  two  songs.  Never  before 
in  the  history  of  the  "  Dakotas"  (the  name 
by  which  the  Sioux  call  themselves,  meaning 
"  allies")  has  a  dance  like  this  been  known.  We 
did  not  carry  our  guns  nor  any  weapon,  but 
trusted  to  the  Great  Spirit  to  destroy  the  soldiers." 

When  there  is  no  night  dance  the  Sioux  pass 
the  time  playing  a  new  and  favorite  game  called 
u  stick  guess."  It  is  very  simple,  for  there  is 
nothing  used  save  a  short  stick  held  in  the 
clinched  hand.  The  Indian  making  a  wager 
that  he  can  signify  in  which  hand  the  stick  is 
concealed,  points  to  the  palm  beneath  which 
he  thinks  the  stick  lies.  If  he  wins,  besides  the 
wager  he  receives  a  larger  portion  of  dog  soup 
than  the  others. 

Speaking  of  the  situation  at  Pine  Ridge,  at  the 
dawn  of  the  Messiah  craze,  an  able  correspondent 
says  ;  — "  Had  the  agency  employees  and  their 
head  acted  in  concert,  and  asserted  the  authority 
given  them  by  the  Commissioner  of  Indian 
Affairs,  the  whole  matter  could  have  been  settled 
without  great  trouble.  Philanthropists,  while 
meaning  well,  from  a  lack  of  knowledge  of  the 


196  MESSIAH  CRAZE  AND  GHOST  DANCE. 

nature  of  an  Indian  treat  him  in  such  a  sympa> 
thetic  manner — often  selecting  the  most  worth 
less  and  lazy  Indians  to  bestow  their  favors  upon 
— that  he  becomes  puffed  up  with  his  own  impor 
tance.  Egotism  leads  to  insolence,  and  insolence 
gets  him  into  serious  trouble  with  the  agency 
employees  and  Westerners  in  general.  The 
Catholics,  Episcopalians,  and  Presbyterians  are 
all  doing  a  good  work,  and  it  is  not  my  purpose 
to  say  much  against  thenl ;  but  they  should  work 
in  unison,  not  against  each  other.  The  Indian 
cannot  understand  how  so  many  beliefs  could 
spring  from  one  good  book,  and,  naturally  sus 
picious,  when  he  hears  one  missionary  speak  dis 
paragingly  of  the  salvation  afforded  by  a  rival 
church,  concludes  the  whole  set  are  humbugs. 

When  the  commission  visited  the  agency  in 
the  summer  of  1889,  for  the  purpose  of  securing 
signatures  to  the  treaty  whereby  the  Sioux  relin 
quished  claim  to  several  million  acres  of  their 
land,  a  number  of  promises  were  made  by  the 
commissioners  which  were  never  kept.  The  gen 
tlemen,  returning  to  Washington,  engrossed  with 
the  many  political  cares  and  social  pleasures  of 
the  capital  city,  soon  forgot  the  sacred  promises 
assured  to  the  Sioux.  Not  so  with  the  Indians 
themselves.  As  they  sat  about  their  tepee  fires 
and  discussed  the  affairs  of  their  nation,  they 


[From  Illustrated  American.] 

BEAR-COMES-BACK-AGAIN. 


MESSIAH  CRAZE  AND  GHOST  DANCE.  197 

often  wondered  why  the  increase  in  rations  did 
not  come,  why  the  presents  were  so  long  delayed. 

An  Indian  never  forgets  a  promise. 

Can  it  be  wondered,  then,  that  the  Sioux  lost 
what  little  remaining  faith  they  had  in  the 
whites? 

As  they  brooded  over  their  wrongs,  the  scarc 
ity  of  rations,  and  the  miserable  treatment  of 
Red  Clond,  the  man  who  has  taken  a  firm  stand 
in  favor  of  the  whites,  the  Messiah  craze  came. 
Imagine  with  what  joy  they  hailed  the  coming 
of  Him  who  was  to  save  and  rescue  them.  How 
they  hoped  and  prayed,  only  to  be  deluded  and 
again  cast  into  the  depths  of  despair!  Even  this 
last  boon  and  comfort  was  refused  by  their  con 
querors  ;  for  no  sooner  had  the  news  of  the  com 
ing  Saviour  reached  the  ears  of  the  Great  Father 
at  Washington  than  he  ordered  his  soldiers  to 
the  frontier  to  suppress  the  worship  of  any  Indian, 
who  should  dare  to  pray  to  his  God  after  the  dic 
tates  of  his  own  conscience." 

All  through  the  summer  and  fall  of  1890  the 
ghost  dances  became  more  frequent  and  intensi 
fied,  and  the  Messiah  craze  ran  like  a  prairie  fire 
through  the  various  tribes  of  the  North.  Tribes 
of  the  same  tongue  and  recognized  as  of  one 
blood,  which  had  been  hostile  to  one  another,  be 
came  friends.  A  general  desertion  of  their  reser- 


198  MESSIAH  CRAZE  AND  GHOST  DANCE. 

vations  took  place,  followed,  very  naturally  by 
a  concentration  of  the  tribes,  the  general  direc 
tion  being  towards  the  seats  of  the  more  power 
ful  Sioux,  and  the  effect  being  to  make  their 
agency  at  Pine  Ridge  a  centre  of  activities.  The 
movements  of  these  excited  bodies  were  myster 
ious.  The  nature  of  their  demonstrations  were 
not  understood.  Excitement  was  rife  in  all  the 
white  settlements  and  a  feeling  of  alarm  pervad 
ed  all  the  agencies.  Rumors  spread  in  all  direc 
tions,  of  the  wildest  sort.  The  Indians  mingled 
tales  of  their  hard  treatment  with  their  religious 
songs,  and  their  religious  dances  assummed 
more  and  more  the  form  of  war  dances.  They 
appeared  in  them  fully  armed,  dressed  in  war 
paint  and  feathers,  covered  with  their  ghost 
shirts  which  were  believed  to  be  impervious  to 
bullets.  The  spirit  of  fatalism  spread  and  they 
courted  death  at  the  hands  of  white  men,  believing 
that  it  would  be  a  speedy  transport  to  a  happier 
sphere.  While  they  abstained  from  a  formal 
declaration  of  war,  from  organized  hostility,  mur 
ders  and  depredations  became  frequent.  The 
running  off  of  live  stock  from  the  neighborhood 
of  the  agencies  and  settlements  was  a  sport  which 
had  special  attractions  for  the  young  bucks 
whose  infatuation  had  gained  control.  The  situa 
tion  was  decidedly  volcanic,  and  no  one  knew 


MESSIAH  CRAZE  AND  GHOST  DANCE.  199 

what  circumstance  might  precipitate  bloody  war 
in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye. 

There  was  no  course  for  the  Government  ex 
cept  to  be  prepared  for  the  worst,  hence  began 
the  concentration  of  troops.  This  work  was  has 
tened  just  in  proportion  as  the  power  of  the  Indian 
police  weakened.  The  Indians  grew  more  defiant 
of  orders  to  go  back  to  their  reservations.  They 
sullenly  withdrew  from  the  neighborhood  of  the 
agencies,  and  betook  themselves  to  the  mountain 
ous  and  inaccessible  u  bad-lands,"  where  they 
could  deliberate  secretly,  dance  at  will,  and  be 
secure  against  attack ;  or,  whence  they  could 
issue  in  formidable  strength  in  case  war  were 
determined  on.  The  Dakotas,  therefore,  became 
a  scene  of  martial  activity,  seldom  witnessed,  and 
the  attention  of  the  whole  country  was  attracted 
toward  the  Northwest.  It  was  a  winter  scene, 
too,  and  that  made  it  all  the  more  interesting. 

The  first  snows  of  winter  fell  on  the  tents  of  one 
cavalry  and  two  infantry  regiments,  encamped 
at  Pine  Ridge ;  one  cavalry  and  one  infantry  regi 
ment  at  the  mouth  of  the  Belle  Fouche  in  S.  W. 
Dakota  ;  one  infantry  regiment  at  Fort  Pieire  and 
one  at  Fort  Yates,  while  one  cavalry  and  two  in 
fantry  regiments  were  placed  in  camp  at  Fort 
Keogh,  the  scene  of  many  bloody  fights,  and  the 


200  MESSIAH  CRAZE  AND  GHOST  DANCE. 

spot  where  General  Miles  forced  the  surrender  of 
the  fiery  Cheyennes  in  1877. 

It  was  fortunate  that  these  forces,  and  those 
which  were  to  co-operate  with  them,  were  under 
the  command  of  an  officer  like  General  Miles,  a 
born  Indian  fighter,  a  thorough  student  of  Indian 
character,  and  a  man  in  whom  the  humanities 
have  .a  large  place.  When  his  policy  developed 
it  was  seen  to  take  the  shape  of  a  firm  presenta 
tion  of  force,  without  seeming  to  use  force.  The 
moral  effect  of  well  armed  and  disciplined  num 
bers  would  win  the  most  decisive  victory,  because 
bloodless,  if  only  those  untimely  provocations 
which  start  an  avalanche  or  explode  a  powder  mill 
could  be  avoided  for  a  sufficient  length  of  time. 

The  position  of  the  troops  was  in  the  nature  of 
a  cordon,  which  could  be  relaxed  or  tightened,  as 
circumstances  required.  Thus  the  whole  scene 
of  activity  was,  under  the  winter  snows,  pictur 
esque.  The  Sibley  tents  of  the  white  troopers, 
contrasted  in  neatness  and  comfort  with  the  tepees 
of  the  Indians,  after  which  they  were  patterned. 

Amid  the  uncertainties  of  the  hour  and  the  dan 
gers  which  constantly  threatened,  camp-life  could 
not  grow  monotonous,  nor  could  the  severest  dis 
cipline  be  relaxed  for  a  moment.  The  American 
soldier  was  called  upon  to  do  duty  in  a  tempera 
ture  far  below  zero.  As  long  as  roads  could  be 


MESSIAH  CRAZE  AND  GHOST  DANCE.  201 

kept  open,  the  supplies  could  be  had  in  abun 
dance,  through  the  agency  of  the  government 
mule  teams.  It  was  only  when  called  to  go  on  a 
distant  scout,  or  in  search  of  a  band  of  renegade 
Indians,  amid  one  of  those  peculiar  sand  blizzards 
of  the  region,  that  the  enemy  could  be  certain  of 
any  advantage.  In  all  else  the  Indian  was  at  a 
decided  disadvantage.  His  tepees  were  not  so 
warm  as  the  Sibley's.  His  food  supplies  were 
more  precarious.  His  discipline  was  his  infatua 
tion,  the  coherence  of  complaint  united  with 
frenzy. 

The  tract  of  country  surrounded  by  the  troops 
and  occupied  by  the  disaffected  Indians,  was  em 
braced  within  boundaries  made  by  the  Cannon 
Ball,  Missouri  and  Niobrarra  Rivers,  and  by  a 
line  drawn  northward  through  Forts  Robinson 
and  Meade  to  the  Cannon  Ball.  There  was  no 
outlet  to  the  East.  To  the  South  all  was  thickly 
peopled.  To  the  West  there  was  nothing  but 
starvation.  To  the  North  was  the  North  Pacific 
Railroad  which  could  be  lined  in  a  few  hours 
with  troops  for  defence.  The  problem  the 
Indians  were  gradually  made  to  face  was,  there 
fore,  extermination  if  they  should  grow  so  infat 
uated  as  to  attack,  or  final  acquiescence  as  time 
gave  opportunity  for  them  to  cool  off.  As  yet, 
but  little  had  occurred  to  resolve  the  uncertainties 


202  MESSIAH  CRAZE  AND  GHOST  DANCE. 

of  the  situation.  The  camps  are  flooded  with 
rumors  from  the  respective  Indian  headquarters, 
and  every  demonstration  of  theirs,  no  matter 
what  its  intent,  is  heralded  as  the  beginning  of 
atrocities.  The  whole  country  is  kept  in  alarm 
by  the  wildest  stories  of  expected  disaster. 

Only  by  the  slowest  degrees  does  General 
Miles  become  acquainted  with  the  real  situation. 
He  employs  his  Indian  police  as  scouts  and  mes 
sengers,  makes  them  bearers  of  information 
between  the  camps,  uses  them  to  overcome  pre 
judices  and  to  ascertain  intentions,  and  if  force 
become  necessary  they  appear  rather  as  police 
men  for  arrest,  than  as  soldiers  for  slaughter. 
And  as  the  General  learned  of  the  true  inward 
ness  of  the  situation,  he  found  that  notwithstand 
ing  the  apparent  wisdom,  of  his  movements  and 
the  humanity  of  his  aims,  they  were,  in  part, 
contributing  to  the  discontent  of  the  Indians, 
for  as  a  casual  visitor  at  Pine  Tree  might  well 
have  asked, "  why  are  these  two  thousand  soldiers 
here,  when  only  four  hundred  lodges  of  Sioux 
and  Cheyennes  are  in  sight?"  So  the  Indians 
asked  "  why  are  these  soldiers  here  ?  We  are 
not  for  war."  The  fleeing  of  the  Sioux  to  the 
edga  of  the  bad  lands  was  not  that  they  might 
prepare  for  war,  but  that  they  might  worship  their 
Good  Spirit,  Wakantanka  alone  and  prepare  for 


MESSIAH  CRAZE  AND  GttOST  DANCE.  203 

the  coming  of  their  Messiah,  unmolested  by  the 
whites.  Even  friendly  Indians  were  known  to 
express  the  sentiment  that,  under  the  circum 
stances,  the  presence  of  so  many  white  troops 
was  an  insult,  and  an  encouragement  of  the 
suspicion  that  the  true  meaning  was  to  rob  the 
Indians  of  the  miserable  remnants  of  land  that 
had  been  left  them.  Little  Wound,  when  com 
pelled  by  hunger  to  go  to  the  house  of  a  herder 
for  food,  thus  expressed  himself,  "  My  friend  I 
have  asked  the  Great  Father  for  food  for  I  am 
hungry,  and  he  has  given  me  none.  I  am  too 
old  to  join  my  brothers  in  the  North,  so  I  must 
remain  with  the  squaws  at  the  agency  and  live  on 
what  you  see  fit  to  give  me." 

When  nursing  a  grievance  the  Indian  is  sullen 
and  reticent.  When  suspicious,  he  is  the  most 
difficult  being  on  earth  to  interview.  Hence  he 
contributed  but  little  directly  to  an  understand 
ing  of  tribal  intentions,  though  much  indirectly 
as  his  laments  crept  more  fully  into  his  songs^ 
and  his  grievances  tinged  his  harrangues.  He 
would  almost  refuse  to  charge  that  the  beef  ration 
due  the  reservation  had  been  diminished  a  million 
pounds  a  year,  even  though  the  population  on  the 
reserve  had  increased,  yet  this  startling  fact 
would  creep  out  in  his  songs  and  murmurs,  and 
would  be  talked  over  around  the  council  fires. 


204  MESSIAH  CRAZE  AND  GHOST  DANCE. 

Nor  would  lie  openly  charge  that  the  beef  cattle 
issued  to  them  in  the  winter  were  smaller  or 
thinner  than  those  in  summer,  but  the  shameful 
fact  was  no  less  a  source  of  profound  discontent. 
Again,  only  by  persistent  inquiring  based  on  ac 
tual  visits  to  the  lodges,  by  Indians  of  friendly 
disposition,  could  it  be  fully  ascertained  how  deep 
the  indignation  was  in  the  bosoms  of  all  the 
tribes  against  the  whites,  for  the  unjust  assump 
tion  that  their  fervor  as  exhibited  in  the  Ghost 
dance,  and  their  faith  as  manifested  in  the  Mes 
siah  expectation,  were  not  real,  but  a  possible 
cloak  for  dissatisfaction  and  a  prelude  to  war. 

It  is,  of  course,  easy  to  deny  everything  from 
the  Indian's  standpoint ;  just  as  easy  as  for  so 
ciety  to  turn  up  its  nose  at  the  overwrought  pic 
tures  of  Dickens.  Yet  no  one  can  read  Dickens 
without  a  good  deal  more  than  a  half  consent. 
Yellow  Hair's  story  may  be  discounted  by  as 
much  as  you  please  of  white  sentiment,  but  you 
cannot  obliterate  its  effect  entirely,  nor  deny  it  a 
place  among  the  touching  episodes  of  aborigi 
nal  life.  He  said,  "lyittle  Wound's  daughter  had 
been  sick  in  the  lodge  for  several  days.  She 
had  no  food,  nor  had  any  of  her  friends.  She 
begged  for  meat,  or  broth,  or  bread.  Little 
Wound  could  not  withstand  the  heart-rending 
appeals  of  his  dying  daughter.  He  started  for 


MESSIAH  CRAZE  AND  GHOST  DANCE.  205 

the  agency  to  beg  food  from  the  agent ;  when  a 
few  rods  away  his  squaw  came  running  out  of 
the  lodge  crying,  "  toiyanka !  toiyanka !  come 
back!  comeback!"  He  returned  with  fear  and 
trembling — his  poor  child  was  dead.  As  she 
died  she  said,  "Oh,  give  me  food,  just  a  little 
food !"  Falling  back  on  the  couch  she  died,  then 
Little  Wound  drew  himself  up  to  his  full 
stature  and  said  "I  would  fight  if  my  young  men 
were  bold  and  avenge  the  death  of  my  child  1" 

The  first  reliable  information  regarding  the 
location  of  the  camps  of  the  hostiles  was  brought 
into  headquarters  about  the  middle  of  December, 
1890.  The  heroic  messenger  was  a  Louis  Shan- 
graux,  of  French  and  Indian  descent,  who  had 
gone  forth  into  the  unknown  at  the  head  of 
thirty-two  Indian  companions,  for  the  purpose  of 
finding  out  something  definite  about  the  location 
and  intentions  of  the  ghost  dancing  tribes. 

Louis'  party  had  been  selected  for  its  mission 
because  the  regular  government  scouts  had  failed 
to  reach  the  camp  site  of  two  of  the  most  important 
chiefs,  Short  Bull  and  Kicking  Bear,  and  because 
their  reports  were  considered  generally  unreliable. 
He  had  been  left  to  his  choice  of  men,  and  had 
chosen  thirty-two  good  and  reliable  friendly  In 
dians,  whom  he  could  depend  on  in  case  of 
trouble.  No  white  men  went  with  them,  for  it 


206  MESSIAH  CRAZE  AND  GHOST  DANCE. 

was  believed  the  hostiles  would  kill  any  one  not 
an  Indian  who  should  venture  near  the  camp. 
From  subsequent  events  this  was  found,  to  be 
true. 

The  country  through  which  they  rode  present 
ed  a  similiar  appearance  to  a  volcanic  region. 
Great  fissures  yawned  on  all  sides,  peaks  of  gray- 
colored  earth,  or  a  dirty  whitish,  limestone  bluff 
towered  here  and  a  precipice  extended  there. 
The  trees  become  stunted  as  one  advanced,  and 
the  grass  disappeared.  Finally  all  vegetation 
vanished  and  there  remained  naught  but  a  series 
of  peaks,  of  deep  yalleys,  of  horrible  pits  sugges 
tive  of  the  road  to  the  infernal  regions !  Truly 
a  more  fitting  place  for  an  Indian  massacre  could 
not  have  been  found  in  the  United  States. 
Occasional  broader  valleys  afforded  a  stunted 
growth  of  grass  for  ponies,  but  these  fertile  spots 
were  great  distances  apart  and  of  limited  extent. 
In  prehistoric  times  eruptions  of  the  submerged 
volcanoes,  or  shrinkages  in  the  earth's  crust 
caused  the  irregularities,  which  everywhere  ex 
isted.  Louis  says  "that  the  country  affords 
splendid  places  for  ambuscades — little  amphi 
theatres,  as  it  were,  with  but  one  entrance,  the 
sides  of  which  are  so  irregular  as  to  form  good 
hiding-places  for  lurking  savages.  The  hostiles' 


MESSIAH  CRAZE  AND  GHOST  DANCE.  207 

fort  cannot  be  approached  except  through  about 
five  miles  of  such  land. 

While  in  the  hostile  camp,  Louis  became  an 
eye  witness  of  the  ghost  dance. 

The  dancing  continued  for  nearly  thirty  hours  ; 
then  there  was  an  intermission  of  several  hours, 
during  which  a  council  was  held  in  order  to  give 
audience  to  the  peace  commission.  Short  Bull  and 
Two  Strike,  aided  by  Crow  Dog,  took  the  side  of 
the  hostiles,  while  No  Neck  and  Louis  Shangraux 
spoke  in  behalf  of  the  friendlies.  Louis  said 
that,  "  the  agent  would  forgive  you  if  you  would 
return  now,  and  would  give  you  more  rations  but 
not  permit  you  to  dance.''  To  this  Short  Bull 
(Tatankaptecelan)  replied : — 

"  I  have  risen  to-day  to  tell  you  something  of 
importance.  You  have  heard  the  words  of  the 
brothers  from  the  agency  camps,  and  if  you  have 
done  as  myself  you  have  weighed  them  carefully  „ 
If  the  Great  Father  would  permit  us  to  continue 
the  dance, would  give  more  rations,  and  quit  taking 
away  portions  of  the  reservation,  I  would  be  in 
favor  of  returning.  But  even  if  you  (turning  to» 
Louis)  say  that  he  will,  how  can  we  discern 
whether  you  are  telling  the  truth  ?  We  have  been 
lied  to  so  many  times  that  we  will  not  believe  any 
words  that  your  agent  sends  to  us.  If  we  return 
he  will  take  away  our  guns  and  ponies ^  put  some 


2o8  MESSIAH  CRAZE  AND  GHOST  DANCE. 

of  us  in  jail  for  stealing  cattle  and  plundering 
houses.  We  prefer  to  stay  here  and  die,  if  neces 
sary,  to  loss  of  liberty.  We  are  free  now  and 
have  plenty  of  beef,  can  dance  all  the  time  in 
obedience  to  the  command  of  Great  Wakantanka. 
We  tell  you  to  return  to  your  agent  and  say  to 
him  that  the  Dakotas  in  the  Bad  Lands  are  not 
going  to  come  in." 

The  gathering  broke  up,  and  nearly  every  one 
continued  in  the  ghost  dance.  For  two  days  the 
hostiles  would  not  have  further  words  with  the 
friendly  scouts. 

About  noon,  Saturday,  Two  Strike — who  had 
been  one  of  the  leaders  in  the  dance — arose  and 
announced  his  intention  to  return  to  the  agency 
with  the  scouts,  accompanied  by  about  one  hun 
dred  and  forty-five  lodges.  Crow  Dog  (Kangi 
Sunka,  the  Indian  who  killled  Spotted  Tail  about 
ten  years  ago)  also  announced  his  intention  of  re 
turning.  At  this  declaration  from  two  such  prom 
inent  men,  Short  Bull  sprang  to  his  feet  and  cried 
out  angrily :  * 

"  At  such  a  time  as  this  we  should  all  stick  to 
gether  like  brothers.  Do  not  leave  ;  remain  with 
us.  These  men  from  the  agency  are  not  telling 
us  the  truth  ;  they  will  conduct  you  back  to  the 
agency  and  they  will  place  you  in  jail  there. 


MESSIAH  CRAZE;  AND  GHOST  DANCE.          209 

Louis  is  at  the  bottom  of  this  affair.     /  know  he 
is  a  traitor  ;  kill  him,  kill  him  ! 

With  clubbed  guns  many  of  the  desperate 
youths  rushed  upon  the  friendlies  and  scouts, 
others  cocked  their  Winchesters,  and  for  a  few 
moments  it  looked  as  if  poor  Louis  and  No  Neck, 
Two  Strike  and  Crow  Dog",  would  lose  their  lives. 
Crow  Dog  sat  upon  the  ground  and  drew  his 
blanket  over  his  head. 

The  wiser  heads  prevailed,  however,  and  after 
a  great  hub-bub,  in  which  several  young  men 
were  knocked  down,  order  was  restored.  It  was 
during  this  trouble  that  Crow  Dog  made  his 
famous  short  speech  : 

"  I  am  going  back  to  White  Clay  (the  location 
of  the  agency)  ;  you  can  kill  me  if  you  want  to, 
now,  and  prevent  my  starting.  The  agent's  words 
are  true,  and  it  is  better  to  return  than  to  stay 
here.  I  am  not  afraid  to  die." 

Imagine  the  surprise  of  the  friendlies  when, 
upon  looking  back  from  the  top  of  a  ridge  two 
miles  distant,  they  saw  the  one  hundred  and 
seventeen  lodges  of  hostiles  coming  after  them. 
They  halted  to  wait  for  Short  Bull  to  catch  up, 
and  then  the  entire  outfit  moved  toward  the 
agency,  all  happy  in  the  prospect  of  peace  and 
forgiveness. 


210 


MESSIAH  CRASH  AND  GHOST  DANCE. 


But  the  hopes  of  the  frieudlies  were  short-lived, 
for  Short  Bull  became  scared  after  having  pro 
ceeded  four  miles  farther,  and,  together  with  his 
band,  left  the  rear  of  the  column  and  returned  to 
the  Bad  Lands. 


[Prom  Illustrated  American.] 

SITTING  BULL.     (Late  Photograph.) 


. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 
MASTERING  THE  SITUATION. 

THE  events  of  moment,  in  connection  with  the 
use  of  the  military  for  the  suppression  of 
this  unique  Indian  uprising  of  1890,  occur 
red  in  the  following  historic  order : 
By  November  I4th,  1890,  the  disquietude 
among  the  Sioux  Indians,  resulting  from  Sitting 
Bull's  prophecy  that  a  new  Messiah  was  soon  to 
appear  to  restore  to  the  Indians  the  land  taken 
from  them  by  the  palefaces  and  to  bring  back  the 
buffalo,  had  assumed  such  proportions  that  the 
Interior  Department  at  that  date  transferred  the 
control  of  the  Indians  of  North  Dakota,  under 
orders  of  the  President,  to  the  War  Department, 
and  General  Miles  was  placed  in  control.  Troops 
were  sent  forward  rapidly,  and  it  was  expected 
that  within  a  short  time  there  would  be  3,000 
regulars  massed  in  North  Dakota.  Sitting  Bull 
would  be  able  to  bring  3,000  warriors  into  action 
in  case  of  trouble,  and  it  was  the  intention  of  the 
War  Department  to  overawe  the  Indians  before 
they  could  have  a  chance  of  doing  anything,  by 


212  MASTERING  THE  SITUATION. 

bringing  against  them  an  equal  force  of  United 
States  soldiers. 

Several  years  before,  there  were  similiar  indica 
tions  of  trouble  with  the  Sioux,  and  a  like  course 
was  followed  at  that  time,  with  such  success  that 
the  Indians  abandoned  their  proposed  attack  on 
the  whites,  and  it  was  thought  that  the  same  re 
sult  would  follow  at  this  time.  An  actual  out 
break  was  not  anticipated  by  either  the  officials 
of  the  Interior  or  the  War  Department,  but  the 
situation  was  sufficiently  critical  to "  warrant 
prompt  and  extraordinary  measures  of  precaution. 
General  Miles  had  had  great  success  in  dealing 
with  the  Indians  and  it  was  believed  that  he 
would  soon  convince  them  ot  the  error  of  Sitting: 
Bull's  prediction. 

On  Nov.  i  yth  1890,  General  Miles  receivto 
official  advices  from  Fort  Custer,  Montana,  in  the 
shape  of  a  report  from  the  Post  Adjutant,  Lieut.  F. 
C.  Robertson,  upon  the  religious  craze  as  it  affect 
ed  the  Cheyennes.  Lieut.  Robertson  says,  "  On 
my  arrival  at  the  agency,  I  put  myself  in  imme 
diate  communication  with  Porcupine,  the  Apostle 
of  the  new  religion  among  the  Cheyennes  and 
with  Big  Beaver,  who  accompanied  him  on  his 
visit  to  the  new  Christ,  at  Walker  Lake,  Nevada, 
last  year.  *  When  questioned  as  to  the  identity  of 
the  15  or  1 6  tribes  who  were  at  the  Walker  Lake 


MASTERING  THE  SITUATION.  213 

meeting  last  year,  he  said  they  included  Chey- 
ennes,  Sioux,  Arraphoes,  GrosVentres,  Utes,  Nav- 
ajoes,  Sheep  Eater  Bannocks  and  some  other 
tribes  whose  names  he  did  not  know.  He  says 
all  of  the  Utah  Indians  had  been  there  and  had 
left  before  his  arrival. 

He  is  sure  there  were  no  tribes  from  Indian 
Territory  represented,  and  thinks  the  Sioux  were 
the  most  eastern  Indians  present.  He  says  that 
he  first  heard  of  this  new  Christ  at  Arrapahoe 
(Shoshone  Agency) ,  Wyoming,  where  he  and 
1 2  other  Cheyennes  went  on  a  visit  last  fall.  An 
Arrapahoe  Indian  named  Sage,  who  had  been  to 
the  Southwestern  country  in  1889,  told  them  that 
there  was  a  new  Christ  arisen  for  the  Indians ; 
told  where  he  could  be  found  and  explained  his 
doctrine  to  them.  Porcupine  goes  on  to  say  that 
he  and  the  other  Cheyennes  were  much  interes 
ted,  and  determined  to  see  this  Messiah,  but,  as 
all  could  not  go  so  far,  nine  of  the  Cheyennes 
were  sent  back. 

Porcupine  and  the  Cheyennes  went  on.  When 
they  got  to  Tongue  River  they  crossed  to  their 
caravans,  Indians  joining  them  in  groups  at 
different  points  en  route,  so  that,  when  the  final 
meeting  took  place  at  Walker  Lake  to  hear  the 
Christ  speak,  there  were  several  hundred  Indians 
present,  including  women  and  children.  He  es- 


214  MASTERING  THE  SITUATION. 

pecially  insists  that  the  teachings  of  the  new 
Christ  were  in  the  interest  of  peace  and  good 
order  and  industry  on  the  part  of  the  Indians." 

Appended  to  this  report  is  the  testimony  of  the 
Cheyenne  Porcupine,  in  which  he  describes  his 
journey  among  the  various  Indian  tribes,  seem 
ingly  for  pleasure  and  information,  and  his 
arrival  at  length  among  a  fish-eating  tribe,  sup 
posed  to  be  dwellers  on  Pyramid  Lake,  Nevada. 
That  part  of  his  testimony  which  bears  directly 
upon  the  uprising  is  as  follows : 

"  What  I  am  going  to  say  is  the  truth.  The 
two  men  sitting  near  me  were  with  me,  and  will 
bear  witness  that  I  speak  the  truth. 

I  and  my  people  have  been  living  in  ignorance 
until  I  went  and  found  out  the  truth.  All  the 
whites  and  Indians  are  brothers,  I  was  told  there. 
I  never  knew  this  before. 

The  fish-eaters,  near  Pyramid  Lake,  told  me 
that  Christ  had  appeared  on  earth  again.  They 
said  Christ  knew  he  was  coming ;  that  1 1  of  his 
children  were  also  coming  from  a  far  land.  It 
appeared  that  Christ  had  sent  for  me  to  go  there, 
and  that  was  why,  unconsciously,  I  took  my 
journey.  It  had  been  foreordained.  They  told 
me  when  I  got  there  that  my  Great  Father  was 
there  also,  but  I  did  not  know  who  he  was.  The 
people  assembled,  called  a  council,  and  the  chiefs 


L 


JbJI 


MASTERING  THE  SITUATION.  215 

sons  went  to  see  the  Great  Father,  who  sent  word 
to  us  to  remain  14  days  in  that  camp,  and  that 
then  he  would  come  and  see  us.  At  the  end  of 
two  days,  on  the  third  morning,  hundreds  of  peo 
ple  gathered  at  this  place.  They  cleared  a  place 
near  the  agency  in  the  form  of  a  circus  ring, 
and  we  all  gathered  there.  Just  before  sundown 
I  saw  a  great  many  people  (mostly  Indians) 
coming  dressed  in  white  men's  clothing ;  the 
Christ  was  with  them.  They  all  formed  in  this 
ring,  and  around  it  they  put  up  sheets  all  around 
the  circle,  as  they  had  no  tents.  Just  after 
dark  some  of  the  Indians  told  me  that  Christ 
(Father)  was  arrived.  I  looked  around  to  find 
him,  and  finally  saw  him  sitting  on  one  side  of  the 
ring.  He  was  dressed  in  a  white  coat  with  stripes. 
The  rest  of  his  dress  was  a  white  man's,  except 
that  he  had  on  a  pair  of  moccasins.  Then  he  com. 
menced  our  dance,  everybody  joining  in,  the 
Christ  singing  while  we  danced.  We  danced  till 
late  in  the  night,  when  he  told  us  we  had  danced 
enough.  The  next  morning  he  told  us  he  was 
going  away  that  day,  but  would  be  back  the  next 
morning  and  talk  to  us.  I  heard  that  Christ 
had  been  crucified  and  I  looked  to  see,  and  I  saw 
a  scar  on  his  wrist  and  one  on  his  face,  and  he 
seemed  to  be  the  man.  I  could  not  see  his  feet. 
He  would  talk  to  us  all  day  That  evening  we 


216  MASTERING  THE  SITUATION. 

all  assembled  to  see  him  depart.  When  we 
were  assembled  he  began  to  sing,  and  he  com 
menced  to  tremble  all  over  violently  for  a  while 
and  then  sat  down.  We  danced  all  that  night, 
the  Christ  lying  down  beside  us,  apparently  dead. 

The  following  morning  the  Christ  was  back 
with  us  and  wanted  to  talk  to  us.  He  said: 
'I  am  the  man  who  made  everything  you  see 
around  you.  I  am  not  lying  to  you  my  children. 
I  made  this  earth  and  everything  on  it.  I  have 
been  to  Heaven  and  seen  your  dead  friends  and 
have  seen  my  own  father  and  mother/  He  spoke 
to  us  about  fighting,  and  said  that  it  was  bad ;  that 
we  must  keep  from  it ;  the  earth  was  to  be  all  good 
hereafter;  that  we  must  be  friends  with  one 
another.  He  said  if  any  man  disobeyed  what  he 
ordered,  his  tribe  would  be  wiped  from  the  face  of 
the  earth. 

Ever  since  the  Christ  I  speak  of  talked  to  me 
I  have  thought  what  he  said  was  good.  I  have 
seen  nothing  bad  in  it.  When  I  got  back  I  knew 
my  people  were  bad  and  had  heard  nothing  of  all 
this,  so  I  got  them  together  and  told  them  of  it, 
and  warned  them  to  listen  to  it  for  their  own  good. 
1  told  them  just  what  I  have  told  you  here  to-day  " 

By  November,  1890,  reports  began  to  come 
from  various  parts  of  Dakota,  which  indicated  a 
scare  among  the  white  settlers  in  various  places. 


-  MASTERING  THE  SITUATION.  217 

Those  from  Mandan  were  of  the  most  excitable 
nature.  Squads  of  Indians  were  making  raids, 
burning  buildings  and  looting  cattle,  the  settlers 
were  fleeing  in  terror  and  seeking  safety  at  the 
nearest  towns  anci  ports.  General  Ruger  took 
but  little  stock  in  these  reports,  he  regarded  them 
as  gross  exaggerations,  and  did  not  hesitate  to 
say  so  publicly.  "  Some  of  these  reports  "  said  he, 
"are  particularly  exaggerated,  especially  those 
relating  to  an  attack  on  Mandan. 

The  Indians  located  nearest  to  Mandan  are 
about  35  miles  away,  on  the  Cannon  Ball  River. 
They  are  thrifty,  industrious,  peaceable  people, 
who  have  taken  up  claims,  built  huts  and  houses, 
own  cattle,  ponies  and  wagons,  and  are  in  good 
circumstances. 

They  are  Christianized  Indians,  having  no 
faith  in  aboriginal  superstitions  and  disliking 
this  new  Messiah  craze,  for  they  say  it  interferes 
with  the  progress  of  the  people.  And  e,  very  year 
these  Indians  sell  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
pounds  of  beef  to  the  Standing  Rock  Agency, 
receiving  not  only  a  good  price  therefor,  but  also 
some  of  the  beef  in  return  as  rations. 

Now,  you  can't  convince  me  that  the  people 
who  have  land,  homes,  stock,  cattle,  wagons, 
crops  and  revenue  are  at  all  anxious  to  go  to 
war,  and  yet  these  are  the  ones  to  watch  whom 


2i8  MASTERING  THE  SITUATION. 

the  people  at  Mandan  have  sent  scouts.  During 
my  inquiries  I  found  that  there  was  nothing  hav 
ing  the  appearance  of  war  or  indicative  of  war  in 
this  Messianic  belief.  The  Indians  say  that  the 
whites  are  to  be  destroyed,  but  by  Christ  alone 
and  without  aid  from  the  red  man.  A  mud  wave 
is  to  engulf  the  pale  faces,  but  the  Indians  are  to 
be  lifted  above  it  until  it  passes  over.  This 
ghost  dance,  too,  is  a  harmless  affair,  being  equiv 
alent  to  Christian  communion — that  is,  a  pre 
paratory  ceremony  through  which  the  partici 
pants  aim  to  perfect  themselves  before  the  coming 
of  the  Master." 

Notwithstanding  the  contradictory  character 
of  the  rumors  that  were  flying  thick  and  fast, 
General  Miles  was  busy  shifting  the  troops  at 
his  disposal,  so  as  to  bring  them  into  the  most 
available  positions.  The  troops  at  Fort  Russell, 
Wyoming,  were  placed  under  orders  to  move  at 
a  moment's  notice.  The  troops  at  Forts  Omaha, 
Robinson  and  Niobrarra,  were  ordered  to  hold  the 
Indians  in  check  at  Pine  Ridge  and  Rosebud 
agencies,  on  the  Dakota  frontier.  These  orders 
placed  2,000  troops,  well  in  hand,  in  less  than  a 
week. 

On  November  19, 1890,  General  Miles  reported 
the  situation,  thus  :  "In  my  opinion  the  forces 
now  at  hand,  and  those  on  the  Rosebud  and 


o 


MASTERING  THE  SITUATION.  219 

Pine  Ridge  agencies  will  be  sufficient  to  protect 
the  lives  and  public  property  at  these  agencies, 
and  control  the  Indians  there,  if  they  do  not  com 
mit  any  serious  overt  acts  before  the  arrival  of 
the  troops,  or  immediately  upon  the  arrival  of 
this  force.  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  the  presence 
of  the  troops  will  have  a  most  quieting  effect.  I 
have  received  information  that  night  before  last 
( American  Horse/  who  is  one  of  the  Sioux  tribe, 
had  a  narrow  escape  from  assassination  from  the 
turbulent  Indians  at  the  Pine  Ridge  agency. 
This  Indian  is  a  prominent  Sioux  chief,  and  a 
friend  to  the  United  States  Government.  He  has 
been  so  regarded  for  years,  and  always  inclined 
to  be  peaceable  and  loyal. 

To  nothing  but  the  turbulent,  hostile  and 
disaffected  spirit  of  the  Indians  can  I  attribute 
this  attempt  to  murder  American  Horse.  They 
are  seemingly  angry  because  American  Horse 
opposes  the  turbulent  spirit  manifested  by  the 
Indians  and  strenuously  opposes  such  actions." 

A  youth  of  the  Arickaree  tribe,  who  had  been 
educated  in  one  of  the  Eastern  schools,  but  who 
was  fast  relapsing  into  the  ways  of  his  fathers, 
said  that,  "  the  Sioux  are  in  good  shape  for  a  fight. 
They  have  plenty  of  guns  and  ammunition,  and 
also  have  all  the  jerked  beef  they  want.  The  Ar- 
ickarees  are  friendly  with  the  whites,  and  we  don't 


120  MASTERING  THE  SITUATION. 

want  to  fight  ourselves,  but  we  would  like  to  see  the 
Sioux  go  on  the  war  path-,  because  it  would  mean 
larger  rations  for  all  the  Indians  in  the  Dakotas. 
I  don't  know  whether  the  Sioux  set  the  recent 
fires  that  destroyed  so  much  property,  but  I  be 
lieve  they  did.  The  Sioux  say  they  have  the 
white  man's  meat  to  eat  while  fighting  white 
men.  The  Sioux  expect  the  Messiah  every  day. 
There  are  300  young  bucks  missing  from  the 
reservation.  Scouts  and  Indian  police  don't  know 
where  they  are.  We  are  friends  of  the  whites 
and  not  of  the  Sioux,  but  the  Sioux  gave  us  forty 
ponies,  so  we  will  be  their  friends  whatever  hap 
pens." 

On  November  20,  reports  from  all  sources  were 
wilder  than  ever.  The  town  of  Valentine,  Ne 
braska,  was  said  to  be  full  of  fugitives  from  the 
country  north  of  the  railroad  and  about  the  Pine 
Ridge  Agency.  The  country  was  thoroughly 
aroused  and  all  who  could  get  away  were  fleeing 
to  places  of  safety.  News  that  the  troops  had 
been  put  on  the  march  was  exciting  the  Indians, 
and  hundreds  of  braves  were  withdrawing  from 
the  agencies  and  disappearing  in  the  Bad  Lands, 
which  procedure  was  regarded  as  ominous. 

Advices  from  Pine  Ridge  under  date  of  No 
vember  2 1 ,  were  to  this  effect : 


MASTERING  THE  SITUATION.  221 

The  dancing  Indians  have  the  agency  and  the 
surrounding  country  in  a  state  of  terror.  The 
Ghost  dances,  under  the  lead  of  Little  Wound, 
Six  Feathers  and  other  chiefs,  are  still  going  on 
at  Wounded  Knee  creek,  White  Clay  and  Medi 
cine,  and  the  Indians  have  their  guns  strapped  to 
their  backs  as  they  dance.  Yesterday  a  large 
band  of  Indians  left  Rosebud  Agency  and  headed 
this  way.  It  is  within  the  bounds  of  possibility 
that  the  dancing  Indians  may  consolidate  their 
forces  at  Wounded  Knee,  and  in  that  case  a  fight 
may  be  expected  at  any  moment.  Medicine 
Root,  the  furthest  point  from  the  agency  where 
the  dancing  is  going  on,  is  30  miles  away, 
Wounded  Knee  is  15  and  Porcupine  25. 

The  wives  and  children  of  all  the  traders  and 
other  whites  about  the  agency  have  left  for  the 
safer  points  along  the  railroad,  and  the  men  here 
are  prepared  for  the  worst. 

The  last  news  from  Wounded  Knee,  was  to  the 
effect  that  the  Ghost  dances  were  being  held 
nightly  and  that  all  the  Indians  collected  there  were 
excited,  threatening  and  boisterous.  The  rumor 
that  the  troops  were  coming  was  repeated  there 
and  only  elicited  threats  in  response.  The  Indians 
declared  their  Messiah  was  advising  them  and  en 
couraging  them  every  day  and  that  the  dances 
could  not  be  stopped. 


222  MASTERING  THE  SITUATION. 

"  If  the  soldiers  come  here,"  they  said,  u  we 
will  treat  them  the  way  we  did  the  agent  and  his 
policemen." 

General  Miles  reported  officially  as  follows  :  Re 
liable  information  has  been  received  that  the  Yank- 
tons  and  Grosventres,  on  the  Upper  Missouri, 
also  those  near  old  Fort  Belknap,  have  unani 
mously  adopted  the  Messiah  craze ;  the  latter 
quite  ugly  ;  that  Sitting  Bull  has  sent  emissaries 
to  these  tribes  and  to  the  48  lodges  of  Sioux  north 
of  the  British  line,  exciting  them  to  get  arms  and 
ammunition  and  join  the  other  warriors  near 
Black  Hills  in  the  spring.  Every  effort  is  being 
made  to  allay  and  restrain  the  turbulent,  but  the 
violent  overt  act  of  any  small  party  of  the  desper 
ate  ones  may  cause  a  general  uprising.  The  lat 
est  reports  from  the  Northern  Cheyennes  is  that 
they  have  abandoned  the  delusion.  There  should 
be  no  delay,  however,  in  putting  other  troops  than 
those  in  these  two  departments  in  proper  equip 
ment  for  the  field.  Short  Bull  had  risen  to  the 
position  of  prophet  or  Messiah  among  the  Indians 
near  the  Rosebud  agency.  He  grew  eloquent  at 
Camp  Leaf  and  thus  unburdened  himself: 

"  My  friends  and  relatives :  I  will  soon  start  the 
thing  in  running  order.  I  have  told  you  that  this 
would  come  to  pass  in  two  seasons,  but  since  the 
whites  are  interfering  so  much  I  will  advance 


MASTERING  THE  SITUATION.  223 

the  time  from  what  my  Father  above  told  me. 
The  time  will  be  shorter,  therefore  you  must  not 
be  afraid  of  anything.  Some  of  my  relatives  have 
no  ears  so  I  will  have  them  blown  away.  Now 
there  will  be  a  true  tree  sprout  up,  and  then  all 
the  members  of  your  religion  and  the  tribe  must 
gather  together.  That  will  be  the  place  where 
we  will  see  our  relatives.  But  before  this  time 
we  will  have  the  balance  of  the  moon,  at  the  end 
of  which  time  the  earth  will  shiver  very  hard. 
Whenever  this  thing  occurs  I  will  start  the  wind 
to  blow.  We  are  the  ones  who  will  then  see  our 
fathers,  mothers  and  everybody.  We  are  the 
tribe  of  Indians  and  the  ones  who  are  living  the 
sacred  life.  God,  our  Father,  Himself  has  told 
and  commanded  and  shcftvn  me  to  do  these  things. 
Our  Father  in  heaven  has  placed  a  mark  at  each 
point  of  the  four  winds.  First,  a  clay  pipe,  which 
lies  at  the  setting  of  the  sun  and  represents  the 
Sioux  tribe ;  second,  there  is  a  holy  arrow  lying 
at  the  north,  which  represents  the  Cheyenne 
tribe ;  third,  at  the  rising  of  the  sun  there  lies 
hail,  representing  the  Arrapahoe  tribe ;  and 
fourth,  there  lies  a  pipe  and  nice  feather  at  the 
south,  which  represents  the  Crow  tribe.  My 
Father  has  shown  me  these  things,  therefore  we 
must  continue  the  dance.  There  may  be  soldiers 
to  surround  you,  but  pay  no  attention  to  them. 


224  MASTERING  THE  SITUATION. 

Continue  the  dance.  If  the  soldiers  surround 
you  four  deep,  those  upon  whom  I  put  holy  spirits 
will  sing  a  song  which  I  have  taught  you,  and 
some  of  them  will  drop  dead.  Then  the  rest  will 
start  to  run,  but  their  horses  will  sink  into  the 
earth.  The  riders  will  jump  from  their  horses, 
but  they  will  sink  into  the  earth  and  you  can  do 
what  you  desire  for  them. 

Now,  you  must  know  this — that  all  the  soldiers 
and  the  race  will  be  dead.  There  will  be  only 
500  of  them  left  living  on  the  earth.  My  friends 
and  relatives,  this  is  straight  and  true.  Now, 
we  must  gather  at  Pass  Creek  when  the  tree  i? 
sprouting.  Then  we  will  go  among  our  dead  rela 
tives.  You  must  not  take  any  earthly  things 
with  you.  Their  womeli  and  men  must  disrobe 
themselves. 

My  Father  above  has  told  us  to  do  this  and  we 
must  do  as  he  says.  You  must  not  be  afraid  of 
anything.  The  guns  are  the  only  things  that  we 
are  afraid  of,  but  they  belong  to  our  Father  in 
Heaven.  He  will  see  that  they  do  not  harm. 
Whatever  white  men  may  tell  you  do  not  listen 
to  them ;  my  relations,  this  is  all.  I  will  now 
raise  my  hand  up  to  my  Father  and  close  what 
He  has  said  to  you  through  me." 

The  dispatches  of  November  24,  were  to  the  fol 
lowing  effect :  Apparently  General  Miles  believes 


MASTERING  THE  SITUATION.  225 

that  if  the  Indians  do  go  on  the  war  path  the  cam 
paign  against  them  will  be  a  protracted  one,  for 
he  is  moving  field  artillery,  large  quantities  of 
ammunition  and  supplies,  as  well  as  cavalry  and 
infantry.  Notwithstanding  sensational  telegrams 
the  army  will  not  take  the  offensive,  but  is  under 
orders  not  to  attack  the  braves  until  they  do  some 
thing  more  warlike  than  dancing.  Instructions 
are  to  prevent  trouble,  if  possible,  by  persuading 
the  Indians  i'  o  return  to  the  agency. 

The  Messiah  craze  continued  to  spread,  and  by 
this  time  it  had  reached  the  Cheyennes  and  Ar- 
raphoes  as  far  south  as  the  Indian  Territory.  A 
friendly,  sent  to  investigate  the  situation  among 
the  Southern  tribes  reported  that : 

"  A  Sioux  Indian,  acting  as  a  missionary,  has 
come  from  the  North  to  teach  the  new  religion  to 
the  Southern  tribes.  He  preaches  to  them  that 
any  one  who  does  not  believe  in  the  new  religion 
will  be  destroyed,  and  in  this  manner  he  so  works 
upon  the  imagination  of  these  people  that  they 
fall  prostrate  to  the  ground,  and  while  lying  there 
the  missionary  pretends  to  cast  some  spell  on 
them,  and  when  they  rise  they  declare  they  have 
seen  the  new  Christ  and  at  once  join  in  the  ghost 
dance,  which  they  keep  up  until  exhausted.  This 
new  religion  has  also  spread  to  the  Kiowas, 
Comanches  and  Apaches,  whose  reservation 


226  MASTERING  THE  SITUATION. 

adjoins  the  Cheyennes  and  Arrapahoes  on  the 
south,  and  different  tribes  all  join  in  holding  the 
ghost  dance,  and  are  rapidly  becoming  more  rest 
less  and  desperate  as  the  time  for  the  coming  of 
the  new  Messiah,  who  is  to  lead  them  to  victory, 
draws  near." 

The  dispatches  of  November  26,  report  that 
the  Sioux  lodges  in  the  neighborhood  of  Pine 
Ridge  indicated  the  presence  of  about  6,000 
Indians,  but  the  bucks  were  mostly  away.  The 
weather  was  the  mildest  known  for  y  ears  and  was 
favorable  for  military  operations.  The  Govern 
ment  had  taken  into  its  employ  about  1,200  Indian 
scouts.  These  were  friendlies  and  were  proving 
to  be  a  very  effective  force  for  police  purposes. 
The  celebrated  Buffalo  Bill  was  given  a  commis 
sion  as  Brigadier-General  and  ordered  on  a  scout 
into  the  Northwest.  Short  Bull's  camp  on 
White  River,  at  the  mouth  of  Pass  Creek,  had 
assumed  immense  proportions,  and  its  occupants 
were  supposed  to  number  1,500  warriors,  all  well 
armed.  They  were  a  surly  set,  and  Gen.  Miles 
saw  more  difficulty  in  an  attempt  to  bring  him  in, 
than  in  any  other  which  then  confronted  him. 
Little  Wound  came  freely  into  the  agency,  and 
this  was  regarded  as  a  sure  sign  that  the  strength 
of  the  disaffected  Indians  would  gradually 
diminish. 


MASTERING  THE  SITUATION.  227 

During  the  month  of  November  the  excitement 
among  the  white  settlers  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
uprising  continued,  and  tales  of  burning,  plunder 
and  murder,  came  into  the  respective  headquar 
ters  with  great  frequency.  Many  of  them  proved 
to  be  sheer  inventions,  while  others  were  provoked 
by  indiscreet  conduct  on  the  part  of  those  who 
had  been  taught  to  kill  an  Indian  and  parley 
with  him  afterwards.  Nevertheless,  there  were 
many  real  outrages,  perpetrated  by  foolhardy 
bucks,  who  had  detached  themselves  from  the 
main  force  for  a  purpose  of  gratifying  a  propen 
sity  for  deviltry. 

General  Miles  was  fast  operating  his  Indian 
police  force.  They  were  sent  out  to  various 
Indian  camps  where  the  ghost  dance  was  pro 
gressing,  with  orders  to  arrest  the  ringleaders 
and  deposit  them  in  jail  at  the  agencies.  He 
also  continued  to  dispose  of  his  forces  so  as  to 
draw  his  chain  closer  around  the  centres  of 
disturbance. 

The  dispatches  of  November,  30,  showed  a 
concentration  of  the  hostiles  in  the  vicinity  of 
Wounded  Knee.  They  were  supposed  to  number 
1,300  ghost  dancing  warriors,  frenzied  with  ex 
citement  and  ready  for  any  deed.  The  military 
were  held  under  orders  to  move  at  a  moment's 
notice,  and  it  was  well  understood  that  Wounded 


228  MASTERING  THE  SITUATION. 

Knee  was  to  be  their  destination,  where  one  of 
the  bloodiest  fights  in  Indian  history  was  antici 
pated.  The  alarm  was  increased  by  the  report 
of  Plenty  Bear — an  old  friendly — who  had  come 
in  from  Wounded  Knee.  His  estimate  of  the 
hostiles  was  2,000  warriors,  all  in  a  state  of  excite 
ment  at  the  efforts  of  the  troops  to  stop  their 
ghost  dances.  He  said  they  had  taken  an  oath 
of  resistance  if  it  cost  the  last  drop  of  their  heart's 
blood.  He  witnessed  one  of  their  dances  and  saw 
Little  Wound  and  his  band  engaged  in  it,  though 
that  chief  had  promised  to  stop  further  indulgence 
in  such  demonstrations. 

By  December  ist,  the  Government  began  to 
change  its  Indian  agents,  some  of  those  in 
position  having  proved  incompetent.  Both  Gen 
eral  Miles  and  Buffalo  Bill  had  arrived  at  the  con 
clusion  that  as  Sitting  Bull  was  a  leading  and 
perverse  spirit,  his  arrest  would  tend  to  bring  the 
agitation  to  an  end.  The  situation  was  not  nearly 
so  encouraging  at  this  date,  and  even  General 
Miles  despaired  of  securing  terms  of  the  hostiles 
without  a  battle.  More  troops  were  called  for,  and 
the  effort  to  concentrate  them  so  as  to  be  provided 
for  the  worst  was  greater  than  ever.  The  language 
of  General  Miles  at  this  date  is  as  follows : 

"  The  dissatisfaction  is  more  widespread  than 
it  has  been  at  any  time  for  years.  The  conspiracy 


MASTERING  THE  SITUATION.  229 

extends  to  more  different  tribes  that  have  hereto 
fore  been  hostile  but  that  are  now  in  full  sympathy 
with  each  other,  and  are  scattered  over  a  larger 
area  of  country  than  in  the  whole  history  of 
Indian  warfare. 

It  is  a  more  comprehensive  plot  than  anything 
ever  inspired  by  the  Prophet  Tecumseh,  or  even 
Pontaic. 

The  causes  of  this  difficulty  are  easy  of  loca 
tion.  Insufficient  food  supplies,  religious  delu 
sions  and  the  innate  disposition  of  the  savage  to 
go  to  war  must  be  held  responsible. 

All  that  is  possible  is  being  done  to  encourage 
the  loyal  and  reduce  the  number  and  influence  of 
the  hostile,  and  in  this  way  an  outbreak  may  be 
averted.  I  sincerely  hope  there  will  be  no  hostil 
ities,  for  a  general  uprising  would  be  a  most  seri 
ous  affair. 

Altogether  there  are  in  the  Northwest  about 
30,000  who  are  affected  by  the  Messiah  craze  ; 
that  means  fully  6,000  fighting  men.  Of  this 
number,  at  least  one-third  would  not  go  on  the 
warpath,  so  that  leaves  us  with  about  4,000 
adversaries.  There  are  6,000  other  Indians  in 
the  Indian  Territory  who  will  need  to  be  watched 
if  active  operations  take  place.  Four  thousand 
Indians  can  make  an  immense  amount  of  trouble. 
But  a  tithe  of  that  number  were  concerned  in  the 


230  MASTERING  THE  SITUATION. 

Minnesota  massacre,  yet  they  killed  500  settlers 
in  a  very  brief  space  of  time. 

Altogether,  we  have  about  2,000  mounted  men. 
We  have  plenty  of  infantry,  but  you  cannot  catch 
mounted  Indians  with  foot  soldiers.  The  infan 
try  had  one  or  two  good  fights  in  1876  and  1877, 
but  such  engagements  are  rare  in  frontier  war 
fare. 

The  Indians  are  better  armed  now  than  they 
ever  were  and  their  supply  of  horses  is  all  that 
could  be  desired.  Every  buck  has  a  Winchester 
rifle,  and  he  knows  how  to  use  it.  In  the  matter 
of  subsistence  they  are  taking  but  little  risk. 
They  can  live  on  cattle  just  as  well  as  they  used 
to  on  buffalo,  and  the  numerous  horse  ranches 
will  furnish  them  with  fresh  stock,  when  cold, 
and  starvation  ruin  their  mounts.  The  Northern 
Indian  is  hardy  and  can  suffer  a  great  deal. 
These  hostiles  have  been  starved  into  fighting, 
and  they  will  prefer  to  die  fighting  rather  than 
starve  peaceably. 

I  hope  the  problem  may  be  solved  without 
bloodshed,  but  such  a  happy  ending  to  the  trouble 
seems  impossible.  An  outbreak  would  cost  the 
lives  of  a  great  many  brave  men,  and  the  destruc 
tion  o'  hundreds  of  homes  in  the  Northwest.  If 
peace  is  possible  we  will  have  it." 


MASTERING  THE  SITUATION.  231 

By  this  time  it  had  become  apparent  to  Gen. 
Miles  that  scarcity  of  food  was  not  an  idle  com 
plaint  on  the  part  of  the  Indians.  He  says : 

"  We  have  overwhelming  evidence  from  offi 
cers,  inspectors  and  testimony  of  agents  as  well, 
and  also  from  the  Indians  themselves,  that  they 
have  been  suffering  for  the  want  of  food,  more  or 
less,  for  two  years  past,  and  one  of  the  principal 
causes  of  disaffection  is  this  very  matter.  One  of 
the  principal  objects  of  my  recent  visit  to  Wash 
ington  was  to  urge  the  necessity  of  immediate 
relief,  and  I  am  happy  to  say  that  success  has 
crowned  my  efforts. 

The  Secretary  of  the  Interior  has  ordered  an 
increase  of  rations  and  has  asked  Congress  to 
appropriate  the  necessary  money.  Gen.  Brooke 
telegraphs  this  morning  from  Pine  Ridge, 
saying :  '  There  has  been  an  issue  of  rations, 
excepting  beef.  The  orders  to  the  agent  at  this 
Agency,  from  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  in 
crease  the  Indians7  rations  but  slightly  in 
meat.'  " 

Word  from  the  Bad  Lands,  whither  most  of 
the  hostiles  had  secluded  themselves,  ran  as 
follows : 

The  hostile  Indians  are  making  use  of  every 
moment's  delay  on  the  part  of  the  military  to 
move  on  them  by  strengthening  their  now 


232  MASTERING  THE  SITUATION. 

almost  impregnable  camp  in  the  dreaded  Bad 
Lands.  The  500  or  600  squaws  with  them  are 
working  day  and  night  digging  rifle  pits  about 
the  camp. 

This  is  something  very  unusual,  if  not  wholly 
unprecedented,  on  the  part  of  Indians  preparing 
for  war.  The  reason  for  this  move  is,  our  scouts 
say,  more  to  insure  the  protection  of  the  im 
mense  quantities  of  stolen  beef  and  provisions  in 
the  camp  than  to  insure  a  greater  slaughter  of 
soldiers.  The  moment  that  these  supplies  are 
captured  by  the  military  that  moment  the  Indians 
must  surrender,  unless  their  thirst  for  blood  is  so 
intense  as  to  lead  them  to  fight  until  they  are 
downed,  either  by  starvation  or  United  States 
bullets.  At  best,  whether  the  military  can  cap 
ture  the  bulk  of  the  hostiles'  supplies  or  not,  the 
Indians  have  undoubtedly  secreted  small  quanti 
ties  sufficient  in  the  aggregate  to  run  them  for  at 
least  eight  or  ten  weeks. 

On  December  4,  President  Harrison  received 
the  following  memorial  from  Rosebud  agency  : 

Great  Father  :  This  day  I  will  write  you  a  let 
ter  with  a  good  heart.  When  we  gave  up  the 
Black  Hills  you  told  us  in  that  treaty  that  a  man 
would  get  three  pounds  of  beef  a  day.  The 
meaning  was  three  pounds  for  one  man.  Besides, 


MASTERING  THE  SITUATION.  233 

you  said  we  could  get  food  just  like  the  soldiers. 
You  did  not,  however,  give  it  to  us  at  this  rate. 

Great  Father,  we  are  starving,  and  beg  you> 
therefore,  to  give  to  us  j  ust  so,  as  you  have  prom 
ised.  Thirty  men  of  us  ;  yet  us,  get  for  18  days 
(only  one  cow)  to  eat ;  that  is  the  reason  I  men 
tion  it.  And  if  you  do  not  well  understand  you 
send  me  (Hollow  Horn  Bear)  traveling  money 
and  I  will  come  with  five  men. 

"  Great  Father,  if  you  do  not  (want  to)  do  so, 
then  please  let  us  have  a  soldier  for  our  father 
(Agent)  when  our  present  father's  term  is  out. 
Great  Father,  please  do  us  this  favor. 

Signed  by  102  Sioux  Indians. 

The  news  from  Pine  Ridge  for  December  5, 
showed  no  change  in  the  situation.  It  ran 
briefly  :  The  hostile  Rosebud  Indians  sleep  upon 
their  arms,  prepared  constantly  for  an  attack. 
They  have  three  lines  of  signal  couriers  between 
this  agency  and  their  camp,  and  any  movement 
of  the  troops  would  be  known  in  a  few  moments. 

They  have  taken  all  they  wish  of  the  Govern 
ment's  beef  herd  and  burned  the  buildings  and 
corrals.  They  are  living  high  and  are  happy. 
They  have  moved  to  the  edge  of  the  Bad  Lands. 
Military  preparations  proceed  rapidly.  Unless 
the  Indians  come  in  within  a  very  few  days  troops 


234  MASTERING  THE  SITUATION. 

will  be  equipped  and  in  position,  when  an  advance 
may  be  ordered. 

/  A.  scare  at  Frisco  amounted  to  a  panic.  Four 
thousand  Indians  were  encamped  on  the  South 
Canadian.  Settlers  from  the  surrounding  country 
came  flocking  into  the  village  by  scores,  and  re 
ports  of  depredations  were  rife.  At  Cannon  Ball 
station,  Captain  Ketchem  had  an  interview  with 
all  the  Chiefs  of  the  Yanktonnais  who  could  be 
summoned  at  short  notice,  such  as  Two  Bears, 
Wolf,  Necklace,  Big  Head,  Black  Tomahawk  and 
Red  Fish. 

They  stated  that  they  had  no  grievances,  and 
with  one  accord  said  the  later  treaties  had  been 
complied  with.  They  expressed  grave  fears  lest 
the  conduct  of  Bull  and  others  would  result  in 
war,  and  that  the  Crook-Foster-Warner  treaty 
would  be  abrogated  thereby.  They  were  assured 
that  friendly  Indians  would  not  suffer  and  were 
content. 

On  December  7,  General  Miles  thus  pictured 
the  situation  : — "  Generals  Ruger  and  Brooke 
have  been  doing  all  they  could  to  put  the  small 
number  of  available  troops  in  position  to  be  use 
ful,  and  so  far  as  possible  staying  the  threatened 
cyclone,  yet  the  end  of  the  Indian  troubles  is  by 
no  means  immediately  at  hand.  No  other  civi 
lized  country  on  earth  would  tolerate  many  thou- 


MASTERING  THE  SITUATION.  235 

sands  of  armed  savages  scattered  through  differ 
ent  States  and  Territories. 

The  people  of  Texas,  Western  Kansas,  Ne 
braska,  North  and  Sonth  Dakota,  Montana,  Wy 
oming,  Utah,  Eastern  Washington,  Idaho,  Ari 
zona  and  New  Mexico  are  seriously  interested  in 
this  subject.  While  the  fire  may  be  suppressed 
in  one  place,  it  will  be  still  smouldering  and  liable 
to  break  out  at  other  places  where  the  least  ex 
pected  under  the  present  system. " 

After  great  difficulty,  Lieutenant  Gaston  of  the 
8th  Cavalry  succeeded  in  getting  a  conference 
with  the  Cheyennes  at  the  Tongue  River  Mis 
sion.  He  reported  as  present,  the  chiefs  Spotted 
Wolf,  Old  Crow,  White  Elk,  Bad  Gun,  Porcu 
pine  and  a  number  of  other  Cheyennes,  Sioux, 
and  Fire  Crow,  an  Ogallalah  Sioux.  The  result 
of  the  conference  was  not  satisfactory,  but  it  was 
thought  that  an  appeal  to  force  could  be  avoided. 
General  Brooke  also  succeeded  in  securing  an 
audience  with  the  hostiles  who  had  got  beyond 
reach  into  the  Bad  Lands.  The  chiefs  came  to 
the  conference  bearing  a  flag  of  truce  and  armed 
with  Winchester  and  Springfield  rifles.  The  en 
trance  of  the  novel  procession  produced  a  flutter 
of  excitement,  the  greatest  that  has  been  known 
here  at  the  agency  since  the  trouble  began. 


236  MASTERING  THE  SITUATION. 

First  came  the  chiefs,  who  were  Turning  Bear, 
Big  Turkey,  High  Pine,  Big  Bad  Horse  and 
Bull  Dog,  who  was  one  of  the  leaders  in  the  Cus- 
ter  massacre.  Next  came  Two  Strike,  the  head 
chief,  seated  in  a  buggy  with  Father  Jute.  Sur 
rounding  these  was  a  body  guard  of  four  young 
warriors.  All  the  Indians  were  decorated  with  war 
paint  and  feathers,  while  many  wore  ghost  dance 
leggins  and  the  ghost  dance  shirts  dangling  at 
their  saddles. 

Bunches  of  eagle  feathers  were  tied  on  the 
manes  and  tails  of  most  of  the  ponies,  while  the 
backs  of  the  docile  little  animals  were  streaked 
with  paint.  The  luridly,  warlike  cavalcade  pro 
ceeded  at  once  to  General  Brooke's  spacious 
headquarters  in  the  agency  residence.  At  a 
given  signal  all  leaped  to  the  ground,  hitched 
their  ponies  to  the  trees,  and  guided  by  Father 
Jute,  they  entered  the  General's  apartments, 
where  the  council  was  held,  lasting  two  hours. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  pow-wow  General 
Brooke  explained  that  the  Great  Father,  through 
him,  asked  them  to  come  in  and  have  a  talk 
regarding  the  situation.  A  great  deal  of  misun 
derstanding  and  trouble  had  arisen  by  the  reports 
taken  to  and  fro  between  the  camps  by  irrespon 
sible  parties,  and  it  was,  therefore,  considered 
very  necessary  that  they  have  a  talk  face  to  face. 


MASTERING  THE  SITUATION.  237 

Through  him,  he  said,  the  Father  wanted  to 
tell  them  if  they  would  come  iu  near  the  agency 
where  he  (Gen.  Brooke)  could  see  them  often 
and  not  be  compelled  to  depend  on  heresay,  that 
he  would  give  them  plenty  to  eat  and  employ 
many  of  their  young  men  as  scouts,  etc.  He 
said  he  had  heard  they  were  hostile  Indians,  but 
he  did  not  believe  it.  The  soldiers  did  not  come 
there  to  fight,  but  to  protect  the  settlers  and  keep 
peace.  He  hoped  they  (the  Indians)  were  all  in 
favor  of  peace  as  the  Great  Father  did  not  want 
war.  As  to  the  feeling  over  the  change  in  the 
boundary  line  between  Pine  Ridge  and  the  Rose 
bud  Agency,  he  said  that  and  many  other  things 
would  be  settled  satisfactorily  after  they  had 
shown  a  disposition  to  come  in  as  asked  by  the 
Great  Father.  Wounded  Knee  was  suggested 
as  a  place  that  would  prove  satisfactory  to  the 
Great  Father  to  have  them  live.  The  represent 
atives  of  the  hostiles  listened  with  contracted 
brows,  sidelong  glances  at  one  another  and  low 
grunts. 

When  the  General  had  concluded  his  remarks. 
Turning  Bear  came  forward  and  spoke  in  reply. 

"It  would  be  a  bad  thing  for  them  to  come  nearer 
the  agency  because  there  was  no  water  or  grass 
for  their  horses  there.  He  could  not  understand 


238  MASTERING  THE  SITUATION. 

how  their  young  men  could  be  employed  as  scouts 
if  there  was  no  enemy  to  be  watched.  They  would 
be  glad  to  be  employed  and  get  paid  for  it.  They 
might  come  in,  but  as  the  old  men  and  old  women 
have  no  horses,  and  as  their  people  have  nothing 
generally  to  pull  their  wagons,  it  would  take  them 
a  long  time  to  come. 

If  they  should  come  they  would  want  the  Great 
Father  to  send  horses  and  wagons  out  to  the  Bad 
Land  camp  and  bring  in  the  great  quantity  of  beef, 
etc.,  they  had  there,  and  take  it  anywhere  to  a 
new  camp  that  might  be  agreed  on.  In  conclu 
sion  the  speaker  hoped  that  they  would  be  given 
something  to  eat  before  they  started  back." 

To  this  the  General  replied  that  they  should  be 
given  food.  As  for  horses  and  wagons  being  sent 
after  the  beef,  the  General  said  that  and  many  other 
things  would  be  considered  after  they  had  acceded 
to  the  Great  Father's  request  to  move  into  the 
agency.  Any  reference  whatever  to  the  wholesale 
devastation  and  depredation,  thieving  and  burn 
ing  of  buildings,  etc.,  was  studiously  avoided  on 
both  sides.  After  the  pow-wow  was  over,  the 
band  was  conducted  to  the  Quartermaster's  De 
partment  and  there  given  a  big  feast.  The  squaws 
living  at  the  agency  came  out  in  gala  day  feathers 
and  gave  a  squaw  dance. 


MASTERING  THE  SITUATION.  239 

The  dispatches  of  December  loth  ran  in  brief, 
as  follows : 

Indications  at  General  Miles's  headquarters 
to-day  pointed  to  a  dramatic  close  of  the  Messiah 
craze  among  the  Indians  of  the  Northwest.  An 
immediate  tightening  of  the  great  military  cor 
don  now  completely  snrronnding  the  ghost  dan 
cers  seems  to  be  the  programme. 

The  climax  apparently  will  be  a  total  disarming 
of  the  redskins  enclosed  like  so  many  rats  in  a 
huge  trap.  General  Brooke  is  on  the  south, 
Colonel  Sumner  is  on  the  north,  General  Carr  is 
on  the  west  and  Colonel  Merriain  is  on  the  east 
with  their  respective  commands. 

Those  of  the  nth  ran  thus : 

Reports  from  General  Ruger  and  General 
Brooke  are  quite  favorable.  The  presence  of  the 
troops  now  in  position  has  had  a  demoralizing 
influence  upon  the  Indians,  and  those  that  a  week 
ago  were  defiant  and  warlike  are  now  giving  evi 
dence  of  submission.  General  Brooke  reports 
that  the  Indians  near  White  River  have  turned 
loose  their  stolen  stock  and  were  coming  in. 
Colonel  Sumner  reports  quite  a  large  number 
of  Indians  in  his  vicinity  who  are  willing  to  obey 
his  orders.  These  belong  to  Big  Foot's  follow 
ers  and  others,  located  about  the  southwestern 


240  MASTERING  THE  SITUATION. 

part  of  Cheyenne  River. 

On  the  12th  General  Brooke  reported  from 
Pine  Ridge : 

From  reports  received  I  am  of  the  opinion  that 
Two  Strike  and  all  the  other  chiefs  are  coming 
in  from  White  River.  Short  Bull  and  Kicking 
Bear,  with  a  small  following,  broke  away  and 
went  back  into  the  Bad  Lands.  Think  it  likely 
they  will  go  north  ;  I  have  notified  all  troops  north 
and  west.  There  was  quite  a  fight,  and  some  In 
dians  were  hurt.  I  shall  try  to  get  them  in  here, 
but  they  may  get  beyond  reach. 

The  Indians  in  the  "Bad  Lands"  had  fallen  out 
among  themselves  over  the  question  of  returning 
to  the  agency,  and  a  terrible  battle  ensued  at 
Grass  Basin  between  the  followers  of  Short  Bull 
and  Two  Strike,  in  which  the  latter  triumphed. 
A  battle  also  took  place  between  the  Indians  and 
settlers  on  French  Creek,  in  which  the  Indians 
were  worsted. 

In  pursuance  of  the  plan  to  use  the  Indian 
police  for  the  purpose  of  arresting  Ghost  Dancers 
and  those  who  refused  to  come  into  the  agencies, 
General  Miles  sent  out  a  strong  squad  to  the  head 
quarters  of  Sitting  Bull,  on  the  Grand  River, 
with  orders  to  prevent  his  escape  into  the  Bad 
Lands  as  was  his  declared  intention.  This  wily 


MASTERING  THE  SITUATION.  241 

and  powerful  Chief,  whose  influence  over  the 
Sioux  and  their  neighbors  had  never  ceased  to 
be  a  source  of  trouble,  might  have  prolonged 
the  agitation  indefinitely,  or  precipitated  bloody 
hostilities,  had  he  been  allowed  to  escape.  It  was 
therefore  important  to  arrest  him,  and  the  attempt 
to  do  so  led  to  his  death.  It  was  on  December 
15,  that  the  Indian  police  started  out  to  arrest 
Sitting  Bull,  having  understood  that  he  proposed 
starting  for  the  Bad  Lands  at  once. 

The  police  were  followed  by  a  troop  of  cavalry 
under  Captain  Fouchet  and  infantry  under  Col 
onel  Drum.  When  the  police  reached  Sitting 
Bull's  camp  on  the  Grand  River,  about  forty 
miles  from  Standing  Rock,  they  found  arrange 
ments  being  made  for  departure.  The  cavalry 
had  not  yet  reached  the  camp  when  the  police 
arrested  Bull  and  started  back  with  him.  His 
followers  attempted  his  rescue  and  fighting  com 
menced.  Four  policemen  were  killed  and  three 
wounded.  Eight  Indians  were  killed,  including 
Sitting  Bull  and  his  son,  Crow  Foot  and  several 
others  wounded. 

The  police  were  surrounded  for  some  time,  but 
maintained  their  ground  until  relieved  by  United 
States  troops,  who  took  possession  of  Sitting 
Bull's  camp,  with  all  women,  children  and  pro 
perty.  Sitting  Bull's  followers,  probably  one 


242  MASTERING  THE  SITUATION. 

hundred   men,  deserted  their  families   and   fled 
west  up  the  Grand  River. 

General  Schofield  when  asked  for  his  opinion 
of  the  effect  on  the  other  Indians  of  the  killing 
of  Sitting  Bull,  said,  u  He  indulged  the  hope 
expressed  by  others  that  this  would  hasten  the 
settlement  of  the  Indian  trouble.  He  thought  it 
would  make  more  definite  the  lines  of  division 
between  the  friendly  Indians  and  those  determined 
to  be  hostile.  He  had  from  the  start  of  the 
trouble  in  the  Northwest,  hoped  the  matter  would 
be  settled,  without  conflict,  and  regretted  that 
blood  had  been  shed,  but  he  hoped  for  favorable 
results." 

When  Secretary  Proctor  was  asked  concern 
ing  the  effect  of  the  killing  he  said  he  did  not 
think  it  would  have  any  bad  effect  on  friendly 
Indians.  They  had  not  been  kindly  disposed  to 
wards  Sitting  Bull,  and  had  no  love  for  him.  It 
was  only  with  the  disaffected  Indians  that  he  had 
any  influence. 

When  Sitting  Bull  surrendered  to  the  United 
States  authorities  in  the  spring  of  J8i,  he  was  at 
first  placed  in  the  prison  at  Fort  Randall,  S.  D., 
but  later  transferred  to  the  Standing  Rock  Agency. 
The  old  man  felt  the  loss  of  his  power  keenly 
and  sought  some  means  to  regain  at  least  a  part 
of  his  lost  prestige. 


MASTERING  THE  SITUATION.  243 

Pretending  that  lie  desired  to  secure  a  farm 
and  settle  down  like  a  white  man,  he  was  given 
a  location  on  the  beautiful  Grand  River,  at  a  point 
43  miles  southwest  of  the  Standing  Rock  Agency, 
which  was  located  at  a  point  half  way  between 
the  Grand  and  Cannon  Ball  Rivers  on  the  Mis 
souri.  At  the  home  of  Sitting  Bull  gathered  a 
few  who  still  acknowledged  that  he  was  a  chief, 
and  he  longed  for  the  time  when  he  could  again 
count  over  the  large  number  of  his  followers, 

During  the  time  he  was  away  from  the  agency, 
Gall,  John  Grass  and  other  noted  chiefs  secured 
their  former  positions  as  leaders,  and  on  Bull's 
return  they  were  in  a  position  to  interfere  with 
his  ambition,  and  they  thwarted  his  every  move 
toward  hostility  to  the  Government,  their  influ 
ence  with  the  Indians  being  so  much  greater  than 
his,  that  they  prevented  much  trouble  that  had 
been  planned  by  the  old  rascal. 

The  first  report  of  the  coming  of  the  Indian 
Messiah  was  hailed  by  Sitting  Bull  as  the  longed 
for  opportunity,  and  he  tried  his  best  to  take  ad 
vantage  of  it. 

Naturally  superstitious,  the  Indians  were 
ready  for  such  an  outpouring  of  their  pent  up 
feelings  in  the  form  of  a  religious  dance.  Bull 
had  always  gained  his  greatest  success  from  his 
stability  as  a  Medicine  Man  or  diplomat,  and  he 


244  MASTERING  THE  SITUATION. 

felt  that  the  time  for  him  to  get  his  revenge  on 
the  other  chiefs  and  the  Government  had  arrived. 

He  at  the  start  joined  in  with  the  ghost  dan 
cers,  not  shouting  and  dancing  so  much  as  incit 
ing  the  others  to  the  greater  activity  in  that 
line. 

When  the  Indians  would  go  dancing  around 
in  a  circle  until  they  fell  to  the  ground  from  diz 
ziness  and  exhaustion,  the  wily  old  chief  would 
take  his  place  alongside  of  the  fallen  one,  and^ 
after  a  few  words  with  him,  would  announce 
what  visions  the  Messiah  and  the  coming  again 
of  the  hunting  grounds  of  the  past  had  been  wit 
nessed,  and  the  dance  would  be  resumed  with  re 
newed  vigor.  Soon  another  would  fall  in  a  faint 
and  the  same  programme  would  be  gone  through 
with. 

By  carefully  nursing  this  budding  religious 
belief,  Bull  was  fast  regaining  his  old  prestige, 
and  it  was  but  natural  that  the  Government 
would,  at  the  first  announcement  of  his  connec 
tion  with  the  troubles,  seek  to  effect  his  capture. 

This  had  been  planned  at  an  early  day  by  Gener 
al  Miles,  but  President  Harrison  thought  the  time 
had  not  yet  come  for  such  action  and  the  arrest 
was  postponed. 

Buffalo  Bill  went  out  to  Standing  Rock  Agency, 
with  orders  to  bring  Bull  in,  dead  or  alive,  and 


MASTERING  THE  SITUATION.  245 

he  would  have  made  a  splendid  attempt  to  do  so 
had  not  the  order  been  revoked. 

Sitting  Bull's  followers  after  the  death  of  their 
chief,  fled  up  the  Grand  River,  leaving  behind 
them  all  their  tools  and  their  families,  which 
were  taken  possession  of  by  the  soldiers. 

After  going  a  short  distance  up  the  river  the 
fleeing  redskins  separated,  and  went  off  in  all 
directions  through  the  country  towards  the  Bad 
Lands. 

Colonel  Corbin  thus  sketches  Sitting  Bull : 

"  The  first  time  I  saw  Sitting  Bull,  was  thir 
teen  years  ago.  I  was  on  a  commission  with 
General  Terry  and  we  met  him  near  Fort  Walsh. 
He  was  then  about  40  years  of  age.  He  has 
never  been  a  chief  nor  even  a  warrior  of  a  high, 
order.  In  the  Custer  massacre  and  in  the  fight 
with  Reno  he  skipped  out  with  his  people  and 
got  away  from  danger.  He  has  been  a  leader  in 
organizing  the  Ghost  Dance  and  has  taken 
advantage  of  the  religious  craze  to  send  emissa 
ries  to  different  bands  to  induce  them  to  make 
trouble.  The  purpose  was  to  assemble  the 
warriors  in  the  spring  and  with  the  aid  of  the 
Messiah  bring  back  to  life  all  of  the  dead  Indians 
and  restore  the  country  to  all  its  pristine  glory. 
Sitting  Bull  was  a  shrewd  politician  and  took 
advantage  of  the  prevalent  sentimental  feeling. 


346  MASTERING  THE  SITUATION. 

He  took  His  children  out  of  school  and  gathered 
about  him  the  small  band  he  had  in  this  secluded 
place,  where  he  believed  he  would  not  be  disturbed. 
It  was  necessary  to  take  steps  to  arrest  him." 

General  Miles  thus  viewed  the  situation : 

"  My  information  was  reliable  and  positive  of 
his  (Sitting  Bull's)  emissaries  and  runners  going 
to  different  tribes  and  exciting  them  to  hostility, 
and  of  the  reports  in  returning  to  his  camp.  The 
order  for  his  arrest  was  not  given  any  too  soon,  as 
he  was  about  leaving  the  reservation  with  100 
fighting  men. 

The  effect  of  his  death  has  been  dishearten 
ing  to  many  others,  I  have  directed  the  troops 
to  ride  down  and  capture  or  destroy  the  few  that 
have  escaped  after  his  death  from  Standing  Rock. 
General  Brooke  has  more  than  1000  lodges,  or 
5000  Indians,  under  his  control  at  Pine  Ridge, 
but  there  are  still  50  lodges  or  over  200  fighting 
men  in  the  Bad  Lands  that  are  very  defiant  and 
hostile." 

On  December  17,  General  Brooke  reported  that 
Two  Strike  and  184  lodges  with  800  Indians  had 
come  in,  and  were  encamped  in  front  of  the 
agency  at  Pine  Ridge.  A  great  number  still  re 
mained  in  the  Bad  Lands,  defiant  and  threaten 
ing  war.  Every  possible  means  were  being  used  to 


MASTERING  THE  SITUATION.  247 

restrain  the  friendly  Sioux  then  on  the  reserva 
tion.  Their  number  was  estimated  at  16,000. 

On  the  1 8th,  skirmishes  were  reported  at  a 
ranche  near  Smithville.  A  constant  watch  was 
kept  over  the  movements  in  the  Bad  Lands.  Ac 
counts  of  depredations  and  murders  were  con 
stantly  coming  to  the  respective  headquarters. 

On  December  2Oth,  500  friendlies  left  Pine 
Ridge  for  the  Bad  Lands  to  urge  the  hos tiles  to 
come  in.  39  of  Sitting  Bull's  followers  sent  word 
that  they  would  return.  This  was  regarded  as 
most  favorable  news.  Big  Foot  and  Stump  sur 
rendered  and  returned  to  the  agency.  General 
Miles  had  all  his  troops  well  in  hand,  and  the  cor 
don  was  so  tight  that  none  of  the  hostiles  could 
escape,  not  even  through  the  intricate  passages  of 
the  Bad  Lands.  He  was  hopeful  of  a  general  sur 
render  at  no  distant  day.  Official  data  showed 
the  following  mortality  in  the  attempt  to  arrest 
Sitting  Bull : —  . 

"  Police  Force — Bull  Head,  in  command,  dan 
gerously  wounded  (four  wounds);  Shave  Head, 
First  Sergeant,  mortally  wounded  (since  dead); 
Little  Eagle,  Fourth  Sergeant,  killed ;  Middle, 
private,  painfully  wounded;  Afraid  of  Soldier, 
private,  killed ;  John  Armstrong,  special  police, 
killed ;  Hawkman,  special  police,  killed. 


248  MASTERING  THE  SITUATION. 

"  Hostiles— Killed  outright,  Sitting  Bull,  Black 
Bird,  Catch  the  Bear,  Little  Assinaboine,  Crow 
Foot,  (Sitting  Bull's  son,  17  years  old).  (The 
above  are  designated  as  very  bad  men.)  Spotted 
Horn  Bull,  a  chief ;  Brave  Thunder,  a  chief,  and 
Chase,  wounded.  Several  were  badly  wounded, 
but  were  carried  off  by  their  friends. 

On  December  25,  word  came  from  Fort  Bennett 
that  the  Indian  war  there  was  over.  It  seemed 
that  the  Indians  there  were  worse  scared  than 
anybody,  and  would  have  come  in  long  before,  but 
for  the  fact  that  they  feared  massacre.  After  the 
Indians  arrived  at  Bennett  several  councils  of 
war  were  held  to  determine  whether  they  would 
give  up  their  arms  or  not.  Finally  they  agreed 
to  when  General  Miles  asked  them.  Agent 
Palmer  said:  "  No  arms,  no  rations  or  blankets." 
This  soon  brought  them  to  time,  and  all  arms 
were  soon  stacked  at  the  agency.  Captain  Hearst, 
commanding  officer  at  Fort  Sully,  received  the 
capitulation  of  174  Uncapapas,  including  70  of 
Sitting  Bull's  band  and  30  from  Rosebud  Agency. 
Narcisse  Narcelle,  boss  farmer,  brought  in  412 
of  Big  Foot's  Indians.  Out  of  these  98  stands  of 
arms  were  collected.  They  were  nearly  all  Win 
chesters,  of  every  description  and  of  very  anti 
quated  pattern. 


MASTERING  THE  SITUATION.  249 

Sitting  Bull's  men  wanted  to  remain  at  Chey 
enne,  and  said  they  are  afraid  to  return  to  Stand 
ing  Rock.  All  surrendered,  and  the  best  of  care 
was  given  them.  All  of  the  teams  at  the  agency 
were  started  to  Dupree,  to  bring  in  the  sick  women 
and  children.  Many  of  the  leaders  among  the 
Indians  acted  very  ugly  in  making  final  settle 
ments,  and  there  was  a  great  deal  of  quarreling 
among  themselves. 

Two  attempts  were  made  by  hostiles  to  break 
up  a  camp  of  Cheyenne  scouts  on  Battle  Creek. 
The  first  attack  was  made  by  only  a  few  of  the 
Indians,  who  were  quickly  repulsed,  with 
a  loss  of  two  killed  and  several  wounded.  Three 
of  the  Cheyenne  Indian  scouts  were  wounded, 
and  it  is  thought  one  is  fatally  hurt. 

The  second  attack  was  made  after  dark  by 
what  was  supposed  to  be  the  whole  band,  who 
were  led  by  Kicking  Bear  himself.  Volley  after 
volley  was  fired  on  both  sides,  and  a  desultory 
fire  was  kept  up  for  an  hour  or  more. 

On  December  28,  General  Miles  received  word 
of  the  success  of  the  friendly  commission  sent  into 
the  Bad  Lands.  "  The  hostiles  there,"  says  the 
dispatch,  "had  listened  to  the  persuasion  of 
General  Brooke's  Ogalalla  and  Brule  peace  com 
missioners,  and  were  moving  in  toward  Pine 
Ridge.  This  confirmed  by  General  Brooke's  dis- 


250  MASTERING  THE  SITUATION. 

patches  yesterday.  The  whole  body  of  braves, 
squaws,  and  papooses  of  the  Brules,  Cheyennes 
and  Northern  Indians  who  have  been  enjoying 
several  weeks'  outing  at  the  famous  terrace  of 
Wall  Camps  in  the  Bad  Lands,  killing  and  smok 
ing  beef,  stealing  horses  and  engaging  in  other 
healthful  and  exciting  pastimes,  are  now  en  route 
to  the  hospitable  agency  at  Pine  Ridge. 

General  Miles  has  issued  orders  to  General 
Carr,  Colonel  Ofell  and  Captain  Ford,  in  com 
mand  of  the  western  and  northern  sections  of  the 
cordon,  to  send  in  forces  to  carefully  search  the 
Bad  Lands  for  straggling  Indians,  cached  arms, 
etc.,  and  to  draw  in  toward  the  agency. 

It  seems  that  Big  Foot  had  made  his  escape 
from  the  agency  after  his  surrender,  and  had  suc 
ceeded  in  eluding  pursuit.  But  his  camp  was 
now  found  near  Wounded  Knee,  by  General 
Forsyth's  command,  and  he  determined  to  dis 
arm  it  at  once.  He,  (December  29th,)  issued 
-orders  to  have  the  150  male  Indians,  who  had 
been  prisoners  called  from  the  tepees,  saying  he 
wanted  to  talk  to  them.  They  obeyed  slowly  and 
sullenly,  and  ranged  in  a  semi-circle  in  front  of 
the  tent  where  Big  Foot,  their  chief,  lay  sick 
with  pneumonia.  By  twenties  they  were  ordered 
to  give  up  their  arms.  The  first  twenty  went  to 
their  tents  and  came  back  with  only  two  guns. 


MASTERING  THE  SITUATION.  251 

This  irritated  Major  Whiteside,  who  was  super 
intending  this  part  of  the  work.  After  a  hasty 
consultation  with  General  Forsyth  he  gave  the 
order  for  the  cavalrymen,  who  were  all  dismount 
ed  and  formed  in  almost  a  square  about  25  paces 
back,  to  close  in.  They  did  so  and  took  a  stand 
within  20  feet  of  the  Indians,  now  in  their  centre. 
When  this  was  done  a  detachment  of  cavalrymen 
afoot  was  sent  to  search  the  tepees. 

This  work  had  hardly  been  entered  upon  when 
the  1 20  desperate  Indians  turned  upon  the  sol 
diers  who  were  gathered  closely  about  the  tepees, 
and  immediately  a  storm  of  firing  was  poured 
upon  the  military. 

It  was  as  though  the  order  to  search  had  been 
the  signal.  The  soldiers,  not  anticipating  any 
such  action,  had  been  gathered  in  very  closely, 
and  the  first  firing  was  terribly  disastrous  to 
them.  The  reply  was  immediate,  however,  and 
in  an  instant  it  seemed  that  the  draw  in  which 
the  Indian  camp  was  set,  was  a  sunken  Vesuvius. 
The  soldiers,  maddened  at  the  sight  of  their  fall 
ing  comrades,  hardly  awaited  the  command,  and 
in  a  moment  the  whole  front  was  a  sheet  of  fire, 
above  which  the  smoke  rolled,  obscuring  the  cen 
tral  scene  from  view. 

Through  this  horrible  curtain  single  Indians 
could  be  seen  at  times  flying  before  the  fire,  but 


252  MASTERING  THE  SITUATION. 

after  the  first  discharge  from  the  carbines  of  the 
troopers  there  were  few  of  them  left ;  they  fell  on 
all  sides  like  grain  in  the  course  of  the  scythe. 
Indians  and  soldiers  lay  together,  and  wounded 
fought  on  the  ground.  Off  through  the  draw 
toward  the  bluffs  the  few  remaining  warriors  fled. 
Turning  occasionally  to  fire,  but  now  evidently 
caring  more  for  escape  than  battle.  Only  the 
wounded  Indians  seemed  possessed  of  the  courage 
of  devils.  From  the  ground  where  they  had  fallen 
they  continued  to  fire  until  their  ammunition  was 
gone  or  until  killed  by  the  soldiers. 

Both  sides  forgot  everything,  excepting  only 
the  loading  and  discharging  of  arms.  It  was  only 
in  the  early  part  of  the  affray  that  hand  to  hand 
fighting  was  seen.  The  carbines  were  clubs, 
sabres  gleamed,  and  war  clubs,  circling  in  the  air, 
came  down  like  thunder  bolts.  But  this  was  only 
for  a  short  time.  The  Indians  could  not  stand 
that  storm  from  the  soldiers — they  had  not  hoped 
to.  It  was  only  a  stroke  of  life  before  death.  The 
remnant  fled,  and  the  battle  became  a  hunt.  It 
was  now  that  the  artillery  was  called  into  requisi 
tion.  Before,  the  fighting  was  so  close  that  the 
guns  could  not  be  trained  without  danger  of  death 
to  the  soldiers.  Now,  with  the  Indians  flying 
where  they  might,  it  was  easier  to  reach  them. 
The  Catling  and  Hotchkiss  guns  were  trained, 


MASTERING  THE  SITUATION.  253 

and  then  began  a  heavy  firing  which  lasted  half 
an  hour,  with  frequent  heavy  volleys  of  musketry 
and  cannon. 

It  was  a  war  of  extermination  now  with  the  troop 
ers  and  it  was  difficult  to  restrain  the  troops.  The 
tactics  were  almost  abandoned.  About  the  only 
tactics  were  to  kill  while  it  could  be  done.  Wher 
ever  an  Indian  could  be  seen,  down  into  the  creek 
and  np  over  the  bare  hills  they  were  followed  by 
artillery  and  musketry  fire,  and  for  several 
minutes  the  engagement  went  on,  until  not  a  live 
Indian  was  in  sight. 

On  December  30,  the  following  official  tele 
grams  passed: 

The  losses  in  this  sudden  affair  were,  Captain 
Wallace,  7th  Cavalry,  and  25  men  killed ;  Lieu 
tenant  Garlington  and  34  men  wounded  ;  also 
Lieutenant  Hawthorne,  2d  Cavalry,  and  150  In 
dians  killed,  wounded  and  captured.  The  news  of 
the  battle  at  Wounded  Knee  excited  the  Indians 
at  Pine  Ridge  in  an  alarming  manner.  The  en 
tire  camp  was  soon  in  commotion,  and  the  rest, 
less  young  bucks  at  once  took  to  the  hills, 
apparently  eager  for  the  fray.  Even  the  most 
loyal  of  the  Indians  were  affected,  and  the 
couriers  themselves  seemed  eager  for  blood.  It 
was  not  long  before  desultory  firing  was  heard 
near  the  agency. 


254  MASTERING  THE  SITUATION. 

General  Brook  telegraphed  as  follows  : 
Colonel  Forsyth  says  62  dead  Indian  men  were 
counted  on  the  plain  where  the  attempt  was  made 
to  disarm  Big  Foot's  band  and  where  the  fight 
begun  ;  on  other  parts  of  the  ground  there  where 
1 8  more.  These  did  not  include  those  killed  in 
ravines,  where  dead  warriors  were  seen  but  not 
counted.  Six  were  brought  in  badly  wounded 
and  six  others  were  with  a  party  of  23  men  and 
women,  which  Captain  Jackson  had  to  abandon 
when  attacked  by  about  160  Brule  Indians  from 
the  agency.  This  accounts  for  92  men  killed 
and  leaves  but  few  alive  and  unhurt.  The  women 
and  children  broke  for  the  hills  when  the  fight 
commenced  and  comparatively  few  of  them  were 
hurt  and  few  brought  in.  39  are  here,  of  which 
number,  21  are  wounded.  Had  it  not  been  for  the 
attack  by  the  Brules  an  accurate  account  would 
have  been  made,  but  the  ravines  were  not  searched 
afterwards.  I  think  this  shows  very  little  appre 
hension  from  Big  Foot's  band  in  the  future.  A 
party  of  40  is  reported  as  held  by  the  scouts  at 
the  head  of  Mexican  Creek.  These  consist  of  all 
sizes,  and  the  cavalry  from  Rosebud  will  bring 
them  in  if  it  is  true. 

JOHN  R.  BROOKE. 

These  Indians  under  Big  Foot  were  among  the 
most  desperate  there  were;  38  of  the  remainder 


MASTERING  THE  SITUATION.  255 

of  Sitting  Bull's  following  that  joined  Big  Foot 
on  the  Cheyenne  river,  and  30  that  broke  away 
from  Hump's  following,  when  he  took  his  band 
and  Sitting  Bull's  Indians  to  Fort  Bennett, 
making  in  all,  nearly  160  warriors.  Before  leaving 
their  camps  on  the  Fort  Cheyenne  River  they  cut 
up  their  harness,  mutilated  their  wagons,  and 
started  South  for  the  Bad  Lands,  evidently  intend 
ing  not  to  return,  but  to  go  to  war.  Troops  were 
placed  between  them  and  the  Bad  Lands,  and 
they  never  succeeded  in  joining  the  hostiles  there. 
All  their  movements  were  intercepted,  and  their 
severe  loss  at  the  hands  of  the  Seventh  Cavalry, 
may  be  a  wholesome  lesson  to  the  other  Sioux. 

MILES. 

General  Schofield  said  that  the  fight  was  a 
most  unfortunate  occurrence,  but  that  he  did  not 
see  how  it  could  have  been  avoided.  He  sent  a 
telegram  to  General  Miles  saying  that  he 
regarded  the  news  received  from  him  as  still  en 
couraging,  and  expressing  an  opinion  that  he 
(Miles)  would  be  master  of  the  situation  very 
soon.  He  also  expressed  his  thanks  to  the 
officers  and  men  of  the  Seventh  Cavalry  for  the 
gallant  conduct  displayed  by  them. 

This  fight  gave  rise  to  a  remarkable  diversity 
of  sentiment  among  army  officers  and  civilians. 
The  slaughter  of  women  and  children,  a  thing 


256  MASTERING  THE  SITUATION. 

so  unusual  in  civilized  warfare,  called  for  an 
explanation  and  defence.  General  Forsyth  was 
placed  under  duress  and  a  commission  was  ordered 
to  inquire  into  the  fact  whether  he  had  been  guilty 
of  conduct  unbecoming  an  officer.  The  moral 
effect  of  his  victory  was  lost  in  the  suspicions 
which  clouded  it.  The  Commissioner  of  Indian 
affairs  wrote  to  the  Supervisor  of  Education  at 
Pine  Ridge  for  his  opinion  of  the  battle.  His 
reply,  in  brief,  was  : 

The  testimony  of  the  survivors  of  Big  Foot's 
band  is  unanimous  on  one  important  point — 
namely,  that  the  Indians  did  not  deliberately 
plan  a  resistance.  The  party  was  not  a  war 
party,  according  to  their  statements  (which  I  be 
lieve  to  be  true),  but  a  party  intending  to  visit  the 
agency  at  the  invitation  of  Red  Cloud. 

The  Indians  say  that  many  of  the  men  were 
unarmed.  When  they  sent  the  troops  they  antic 
ipated  no  trouble.  There  was  constant  friendly 
intercourse  between  the  soldiers  and  the  Indians, 
even  women  shaking  hands  with  the  officers  and 
men.  The  demand  for  their  arms  was  a  surprise 
to  the  Indians,  but  the  great  majority  of  them 
chose  to  submit  quietly.  The  tepees  had  already 
been  searched,  and  a  large  number  of  guns, 
knives  and  hatchets  confiscated  when  the  search 
ing  of  the  persons  of  the  men  was  begun. 


MASTERING  THE  SITUATION.  257 

The  women  say  that  they  too  were,  searched, 
and  their  knives  (which  they  always  carried  for 
domestic  purposes)  taken  from  them.  A  num 
ber  of  the  men  had  surrendered  their  rifles  and 
cartridge  belts,  when  one  young  man  (who  is 
described  by  the  Indians  as  a  good-for-nothing 
young  fellow)  fired  a  single  shot.  This  called 
forth  a  volley  from  the  troops,  and  the  firing  and 
confusion  became  general. 

I  do  not  credit  the  statement,  which  has  been 
made  by  some,  that  the  women  carried  arms  and 
participated  actively  in  the  fight.  The  weight  of 
testimony  is  overwhelmingly  against  this  sup 
position.  There  may  have  been  one  or  two  isolated 
cases  of  this  kind,  but  there  is  no  doubt  that  the 
great  majority  of  the  women  and  children,  as  well 
as  many  unarmed  men  and  youth,  had  no  thought 
of  anything  but  flight.  They  were  pursued  up 
the  ravines  and  shot  down  indiscriminately  by  the 
soldiers. 

It  is  reported  that  one  of  the  officers  called  out, 
"  Don't  shoot  the  squaws,"  but  the  men  were 
doubtless  too  much  excited  to  obey.  The  killing 
of  the  women  and  children  was  in  part  unavoid 
able,  owing  to  the  confusion,  but  I  think  there  is 
no  doubt  that  it  was  in  many  cases  deliberate  and 
intentional.  The  yth  Cavalry,  Ouster's  old  com 
mand,  had  an  old  grudge  to  repay. 


258  MASTERING  THE  SITUATION, 

The  party  of  scouts  who  buried  the  dead  report 
eighty-four  bodies  of  men  and  boys,  forty-four 
of  women,  and  eighteen  of  young  children.  Some 
were  carried  off  by  the  hostiles.  A  number  of 
prisoners,  chiefly  women,  have  since  died 
of  their  wounds,  and  more  will  soon  follow. 
The  party  who  visited  the  battlefield  on  Jan 
uary  i  to  rescue  any  wounded  who  might  have 
been  abandoned,  and  brought  in  seven,  report 
that  nearly  all  thefbodies  of  the  men  were  lying 
close  about  Big  Foot's  tents,  while  the  women  and 
children  were  scattered  along  a  distance  of  two 
miles  from  the  scene  of  the  encounter. 

The  main  reflection  which  occurs  to  me  in  con 
nection  with  this  most  important  affair,  is  that  the 
same  thing  should  not  be  allowed  to  happen  again. 
The  irresponsible  action  of  one  hot  headed  youth 
should  not  be  the  signal  for  a  general  and  indis 
criminate  slaughter  of  the  unarmed  and  helpless. 

The  battle  of  Wounded  Knee  was  followed  by 
an  attack  on  the  Catholic  Mission  at  Clay  Creek. 
The  dispatches  from  Pine  Ridge  respecting  this 
affair,  read  as  follows  : 

The  Seventh  Cavalry  had  just  reached  camp 
yesterday  morning,  (Dec.  3Oth.)  after  repulsing 
the  attack  made  on  their  supply  train  by  Two 
Strike's  band,  when  a  courier  arrived  with  word 
that  the  Catholic  mission  was  on  fire  and  the 


MASTERING  THE  SITUATION.  259 

teachers  and  pupils   were  being  massacred.     In 
20  minutes  the   weary  and   hungry   and  almost 
exhausted  cavalry  were  once  more    in   motion. 
They  found  that  the  fire  was  at  the  day  school 
one  mile  this  side  of  the  mission. 

The  Indians,  under  command  of  Little  Wound 
and  Two  Strike,  were  found  to  the  number  of 
1809  about  a  mile  beyond  the  Mission.  The 
Seventh  formed  a  line  and  began  the  fighting, 
which  was  carried  on  by  only  30  or  40  Indians 
at  a  time,  while  the  great  mass  kept  concealed. 
General  Forsyth  suspected  an  ambush  and  did 
not  let  them  draw  him  into  dangerous  ground. 
Colonel  Henry  started  one  hour  later  than  Forsyth, 
and,  owing  to  the  exhaustion  of  his  horses,  had 
to  travel  very  slow.  The  Seventh  became  sur 
rounded  by  the  redskins,  but  just  as  the  circle 
was  ready  to  charge,  the  Ninth  broke  in  upon  the 
rear  of  the  hostiles  and  they  vanished.  **  The 
weary  soldiers  slowly  retreated,  reaching  the 
agency  at  dark.  The  infantry  had  been  ordered 
out,  but  were  stopped  by  the  sight  of  the  head  of 
the  column  of  cavalry.  The  soldiers,  heroic  and 
brave  as  they  were,  were  greatly  outnumbered, 
and  there  are  not  enough  troops  at  this  point  to 
clean  out  these  Indians,  who  are  still  camped 
within  seven  miles  of  the  agency.  The  damage 
sustained  by  the  troops  is  small.  Lieutenant 


2$j  MASTERING  THE  SITUATION. 

Mann,  of  Company  E,  Seventh  Cavalry,  was 
wounded,  shot  through  the  side.  The  First 
Sergeant  of  Company  K  was  also  wounded. 

The  situation  was  exceedingly  gloomy  in 
every  respect.  The  weather  became  intensely 
cold.  Blinding  snow  storms  were  raging.  Bands 
of  hostiles  renewed  their  depredations  all  along 
the  Nebraska  and  Dakota  border,  and  the  militia 
of  the  former  State  was  called  into  service.  Gen 
eral  Miles  took  the  field  in  person  and  started 
from  Chadwick  to  Pine  Ridge  at  the  head  of  a 
large  force  of  cavalry.  Rumors  were  constantly 
arriving  to  hand,  of  the  breaking  away  of  the  In 
dians  from  the  agency  for  the  purpose  of  joining 
the  hostiles  in  the  Bad  Lands.  Only  squaws  and 
those  unable  to  fight  remained  behind  to  draw 
rations  and  keep  up  a  show  of  friendliness.  One 
of  the  most  useful  of  the  missionaries,  Father  Craft, 
received  severe  wounds  in  the  indiscriminate 
firing  around  Pine  Ridge.  Sentiment  seemed  to 
shape  up  everywhere  that  a  slaughter  was  immi 
nent,  and  that  nothing  but  an  exterminating 
warfare  would  meet  the  situation. 

The  dispatches  of  January  i,  1891,  dated  at 
Pine  Ridge  ran  as  follows  : 

The  upper  Brules  are  in  open  rebellion.  After 
two  months  of  unrest  and  uncertainty  the  Sioux 
have  finally  shown  their  hand.  Three  thousand 


MASTERING  THE  SITUATION.  261 

of  them,  tinder  the  leadership  of  such  cunning 
fellows  as  Big  Road,  Kicking  Bear,  Little  Wound, 
Short  Bull  and  Jack  Red  Cloud,  and  even  old 
Red  Cloud  Himself,  have  turned  upon  the  Gov 
ernment,  for  what  will  doubtless  prove  to  be  their 
last  stand  against  the  military.  American  Horse 
is  the  only  remaining  loyal  chief,  but  his  follow 
ing  is  so  small  that  it  would  make  no  difference 
whether  he  counseled  war  or  peace. 

Squads  of  Indians  have  been  leaving  for  the 
warpa-th  to-day.  Under  the  cloak  of  a  heavy 
snow  storm,  they  started  off  to  the  north,  but 
their  destination  is  not  known.  It  is  thought, 
however,  that  they  will  make  for  the  Bad  Lands, 
or  the  vicinity  of  the  old  Spotted  Tail  reserva 
tion.  Troops  have  been  ordered  to  intercept 
them.  Depredations  have  already  begun  on  the 
ranches.  Scores  of  houses  along  White  River 
have  been  burned  and  the  cattle  run  off  and 
killed. 

A  scout,  who  came  in  Tuesday  night,  said  that 
the  hostiles,  reassured  by  the  fact  that  the  sol 
diers  quit  the  field  during  the  afternoon,  had 
planned  to  attack  and  burn  the  agency  with  fire- 
arrows,  then  stampede  the  troops  and  massacre 
the  inhabitants.  The  report  was  true  to  some 
extent,  but  the  heavy  lines  of  pickets  stopped  the 
savages. 


362  MASTERING  THE  SITUATION. 

General  Brooke  ordered  100,000  rounds  of 
ammunition  from  Omaha. 

The  panic  in  the  railroad  towns  in  the  vicinity 
of  Pine  Ridge  was  indescribable.  Settlers  were 
pouring  into  the  villages  on  foot,  in  wagons  and 
on  horseback.  Many  of  them  abandoned  their 
stock  and  household  goods,  while  others  brought 
their  cattle  and  ponies  with  them.  Some  of  the 
refugees  who  traveled  through  the  blizzard  were 
badly  frozen,  and  many  women  and  children 
became  ill  from  exposure. 

On  the  morning  of  January  2d,  1891,  General 
Miles  telegraphed  General  Schofield,  saying  that 
3,000  Indians,  men,  women  and  children,  and  in 
cluding  about  600  bucks,  are  now  encamped  in  a 
section  of  the  Bad  Lands,  about  fifteen  miles  from 
the  Pine  Ridge  agency,  and  that  there  is  almost 
a  cordon  of  troops  around  them.  General  Miles 
announces  that  he  hopes  to  be  able  to  induce 
these  hostiles  to  surrender  without  a  struggle. 
The  spot  where  they  are  encamped  he  describes 
as  somewhat  like  the  lava  beds  of  California, 
where  the  Modocs  made  their  final  fight.  It  is  an 
excellent  position  from  an  Indian  standpoint,  but 
there  are  110  avenues  of  escape,  all  having  been 
closed  by  the  troops.  General  Miles  says  the  In 
dians  have  gathered  some  cattle  and  provisions, 
.and  appear  to  be  determined  to  make  their  "fight 


MASTERING  THE  SITUATION.  263 

for  supremacy  at  this  point.  He  says  he  will 
make  another  effort  to  get  them  back  to  the 
agency  without  bloodshed,  and,  in  order  to  do  so, 
he  has  established  a  regular  siege  around  this 
stronghold. 

The  forces  at  his  command  at  this  date  were 
the  First,  Sixth,  Seventh  (eight  companies),  and 
Ninth  Cavalry ;  one  company  of  the  First  Artil 
lery,  Company  E  ;  one  company  of  the  Fourth 
Artillery,  Company  F;  and  the  First,  Second, 
Third,  Seventh,  Eighth,  Twelfth,  Sixteenth, 
Seventeenth,  Twentieth,  Twenty-first,  Twenty- 
second  and  Twenty-fifth  Infantry,  making  in  all 
151  companies.  This  should  have  meant  an  actual 
fighting  force  of  at  least  10,000  officers  and  men, 
but  it  is  probable  that  the  ranks  were  not  full, 
and  that  the  regular  army  under  General  Miles 
did  not  exceed  8,000  men  at  the  most. 

While  every  day  brought  his  forces  more  and 
more  in  touch,  there  could  be  no  doubt  of  the 
fact  that  the  hostiles  in  the  Bad  Lands  were  being 
augmented  by  desertions  from  the  agencies>  and 
their  leaders  such  as  Short  Bull,  Two  Strike  and 
probably  Red  Cloud  (though  the  latter  was  credited 
being  in  the  employ  of  the  Government),  were 
very  determined  upon  war.  But  while  this  was  so, 
there  was  a  large  contingent  of  those  who  ranked 
as  hostiles  which  favored  peaceful  return  to  the 


264  MASTERING  THE  SITUATION. 

agencies.  The  hostiles,  therefore,  were  dis 
cordant,  and  time  would  only  widen  the  sources 
of  discontent.  The  excitement  attending  and  fol 
lowing  the  Wounded  Knee  affair,  had  interfered 
with  the  getting  of  accurate  information,  but 
General  Miles  persisted  in  a  quiet  and  resolute 
movement  of  his  forces  toward  the  hostile  centres. 
Old  Red  Cloud  came  on  January  8th,  and  reported 
that  he  had  lost  all  control  over  the  younger  men 
of  his  tribe. 

The  nearness  of  the  troops  to  the  hostiles  was 
attended  with  its  dangers.  Skirmishes  were  not 
infrequent.  Scouting  parties  hardly  knew  what 
moment  they  might  be  the  victims  of  ambush. 
On  the  line  occupied  by  the  22d  Infantry,  almost 
incessant  firing  had  been  kept  up  for  several 
days.  On  Jan.  yth,  Lieutenant  Casey  was  out 
with  his  scouts  watching  the  hostile  camp,  and, 
with  one  Cheyenne,  met  two  Indians,  an  Ogal- 
lalla  and  a  Brule.  The  Ogallalla  warned  Lieu 
tenant  Casey  that  the  Brules  were  bad,  and  would 
shoot.  As  Lieutenant  Casey  turned  to  go  away 
the  Brule  fired,  striking  him  in  the  back  of  the 
head  and  killing  him  instantly.  Lieutenant 
Casey  was  one  of  the  most  brilliant  and  beloved 
officers  of  the  service.  He  had  been  in  command 
of  a  troop  of  Cheyenne  scouts  for  about  a  year, 
and  was  working  earnestly  in  the  interest  of  the 


MASTERING  THE  SITUATION.  265 

Indians  themselves.  He  had  a  reputation  in  the 
array  of  possessing  an  unusually  accurate 
knowledge  of  the  Indian  character. 

At  this  critical  date  the  Interior  Department 
of  the  Government  summed  up  the  situation  as 
follows : 

There  are  in  all  about  20,000  Sioux  Indians, 
men,  women  and  children,  on  the  Northern  res 
ervations.  Of  this  number  16,500  are  accounted 
for,  as  they  are  living  on  the  reservations  in  peace 
and  not  taking  any  part  in  the  present  disturb 
ance.  This  leaves  about  3,500  men,  women  and 
children  to  face  the  earthworks,  the  howitzers 
and  the  8,000  men  now  under  the  command  of 
General  Miles.  The  hostile  camp  is  located 
about  17  miles  north  of  the  agency,  and  the  cor 
don  of  troops  surrounds  the  hostile  camp,  with 
the  exception  of  the  south  side,  the  object  being 
to  drive  the  Indians  into  the  reservation.  There 
is  constant  communication  between  the  hostile 
camp  and  the  agency.  The  hostiles  are  well 
supplied  with  beef,  but  they  have  no  sugar  or 
coffee,  except  as  they  are  supplied  by  the  "  friend- 
lies,"  as  the  reservation  Indians  are  called. 
While  the  situation  is  regarded  as  a  hopeless  one 
for  the  Indians,  yet  it  is  believed  that  they  have 
no  intention  of  surrendering. 


266  MASTERING  THE  SITUATION. 

At  this  juncture  the  Government  deemed  it 
wise  to  transfer  the  agencies  from  the  Interior  to 
the  War  Department.  General  Miles  regarded 
this  as  an  excellent  move.  It  avoided  conflict  of 
authority  and  left  him  unmolested  in  his  policy 
of  slowly  drawing  his  cordon  around  the  hostiles, 
avoiding  bloodshed,  unless  it  became  inevitable, 
giving  them  time  to  get  over  their  craze  and  re 
turn  to  reason.  He  was  convinced  that  dissen 
sions  among  the  hostiles  were  daily  growing,  and 
that  he  could  afford  to  wait,  so  long  as  they  were 
destroying  one  another. 

At  intervals  of  every  two  or  three  days,  he  or 
dered  his  troops  to  take  up  advanced  positions,  a 
few  miles  nearer  the  hostile  camps.  These  move 
ments  were  generally  made  under  cover  of  the 
night,  and  the  following  morning  would  reveal 
the  unwelcome  truth  to  the  hostiles  that  their 
case  was  hourly  growing  more  and  more  desperate. 
Moreover,  proximity  gave  those  who  wished  to 
come  in  a  chance  to  do  so,  for  they  could  reach  the 
cover  of  the  troops  without  the  danger  of  pursuit. 

By  the  I2th  of  December  the  policy  of  General 
Miles  had  begun  to  tell  favorably  on  the  hostiles. 
His  show  of  force  was  such  as  to  convince  them 
of  the  futility  of  war  on  their  part.  Their  dissen 
sions,  their  lack  of  food,  the  passing  away  of  the 
craze,  the  growth  of  the  impression  that  after  all 


MASTERING  THE  SITUATION.  267 

the  troops  were  not  intended  for  their  extermina 
tion,  a  gradual  subsidence  of  all  the  thoughts  and 
passions  that  had  persuaded  them — all  these  had 
had  time  to  operate.  The  panicky  feeling  of  the  last 
few  days  was  passing  away,  and  the  beginning 
of  a  peaceful  end  was  believed  to  be  in  sight. 

This  feeling  was  confirmed  by  news  that  prom 
inent  chiefs  were  relenting  and  were  anxious  to 
come  within  the  protection  of  the  agency.  Soon 
came  other  news  to  the  effect  that  they  were 
actually  moving  toward  the  agency  with  their 
followers.  While  they  had  to  be  watched  as  eni- 
mies,  for  there  was  no  telling  whether  they  were 
acting  in  good  faith  or  not,  they  were  nevertheless 
encouraged.  Nothing  was  thrown  in  their  way, 
on  the  contrary,  they  were  permitted  to  move 
just  as  fast  as  they  saw  fit,  the  thought  being 
that  the  more  voluntary  their  surrender  the  more 
effective  it  would  be.  Gentle  pressure  was  exert 
ed  behind  in  the  shape  of  a  closing  in  of  the 
troops.  The  scene  about  Pine  Ridge  grew  ani 
mated.  The  effect  of  the  coming  of  the  hostiles  on 
those  already  within  the  agency  was  watched 
with  interest,  not  to  say  apprehension.  Every 
point  available  for  strategy  had  been  fortified  and 
occupied,  so  that  if  the  hostiles  should  infect  the 
friendlies  or  should  choose  to  break  their 


t 
268  MASTERING  THE  SITUATION. 

faith,  they  could  be  punished  iu  a  summary 
manner. 

General  Miles  was  now  in  a  position  to  make 
the  demand  on  those  who  came  in,  that  a  condition 
of  their  surrender,  should  be  a  giving  up  of  their 
arms.  This  hardest  of  all  conditions  for  an  In 
dian,  was  sternly  resented  at  first,  but  as  the 
desperation  of  their  situation  became  more  and 
more  apparent,  it  proved  to  be  a  condition  to 
which  they  could  concede,  in  their  own  way. 
That  way  was  peculiar,  but  not  unnatural.  They 
secreted  all  their  new  and  available  arms,  and 
very  complacently  began  to  turn  in  their  old  and 
useless  weapons.  The  trick  was  not  resented^ 
for  the  time  at  least,  the  great  point  being  to  get 
a  surrender.  As  long  as  the  arms  were  not  in 
hand,  but  cached  in  some  out  of  the  way  place, 
the  Indians  would  be  as  good  as  disarmed.  The 
situation  as  shown  by  the  dispatches  of  the  I2th. 
of  December  was  thus  : 

The  announcement  that  a  large  number  of 
the  hostiles  had  at  length  arrived  within  gunshot 
distance  of  the  pickets  spread  with  rapidity 
through  the  camp  of  the  Indians  near  the  camp 
fire.  Immediately  hundreds  of  squaws  and  chil 
dren  gathered  in  the  vicinity  of  headquarters, 
whence  a  view  of  the  bluffs  beyond  upon  which 
the  hostiles  were  stationed  could  be  obtained. 


MASTERING  THE  SITUATION.  269 

They  waited  patiently  for  their  brothers,  lovers 
and  husbands  to  appear,  but  as  evening  drew 
on  and  their  devotion  was  not  rewarded,  they 
gradually  retired  to  their  tepees. 

At  this  writing  there  is  no  certainty  as  to  what 
the  Indians  will  do.  General  Miles  himself  is  in 
doubt  as  to  what  to  expect  then.  They  may,  he 
says,  get  within  gunshot  of  the  agency,  and  then 
break  away  to  the  camp  which  they  have  just 
abandoned.  Fear  of  all  kinds  of  punishment 
seems  to  have  taken  possession  of  them,  and  it  is 
generally  understood  that  one  injudicious  act  on 
the  part  of  the  soldiers,  or  the  mad  act  of  some 
implacable  hostile  would  precipitate  a  fight,  the 
consequence  of  which  may  be  scarcely  imagined. 

Captain  Ewers  will  start  in  a  few  days  with 
Little  Chiet's  band  of  490  Cheyennes  to  take 
them  to  the  Tongue  River,  Montana.  Little 
Chief  and  his  band  have  been  ugly  fighters  in 
every  war  for  the  last  twenty  years.  In  1876 
they  were  sent  from  this  region  to  Fort  Reno, 
and  in  1878  fought  their  way  back  through  the 
settlements  of  Kansas,  and  Nebraska,  to  the 
Sand  Hills,  near  Gordon,  where  they  were  cap 
tured.  Since  then  they  have  been  good  friends 
to  the  whites,  and  have  made  excellent  police  and 
scouts.  The  band  have  about  900  relatives  on 


270  MASTERING  THE  SITUATION. 

the  Tongue  river,  and  Have  begged  for  several 
years  to  be  transferred  to  the  reservation. 

General  Miles  determined  this  morning  not  to 
parley  nor  confer  again  with  the  Indians,  and 
this  morning  he  sent  a  messenger  to  the  hostiles 
camped  at  the  Mission,  stating  his  terms.  He 
said  they  must  come  into  the  Agency  in  small 
squads,  and  go  into  camp  on  their  grounds  near 
the  friendly  Indians.  He  would  not  object  if 
they  choose  their  own  camping  grounds,  but  the 
Brules  and  Ogallallas  must  not  camp  together, 
and  they  must  submit  to  the  laws  governing  the 
reservation  and  to  the  agent. 

The  Indians  themselves  partially  admit  the 
chiefs  cannot  guarantee  to  control  the  warriors. 
They  say  they  have  among  them  about  300  young 
bucks  who  want  to  fight,  and  a  single  shot  wall 
start  them.  Besides  this,  the  Indians  who  mur 
dered  Lieutenant  Casey  are  known,  and  they 
know  when  they  are  taken  they  will  be  hanged 
for  murder.  They  are  among  the  belligerent 
young  bucks,  and  they  may  precipitate  a  fight  to 
prevent  dying  by  the  rope.  There  are  all  these 
possibilities  which  make  it  impossible  to  predict 
the  result.  General  Miles  is  required  to  exercise 
patience  almost  to  a  ridiculous  degree.  He  has 
given  the  matter  already  more  time  than  there  is 
any  earthly  reason  for.  If  an  attack  is  made,  a 


MASTERING  THE  SITUATION.  271 

cry  will  go  up  from  the  Indians  that  they  were 
bringing  in  their  wounded ;  that  their  squaws 
had  no  ponies,  and  that  they  were  not  given  time 
to  come  in.  It  is  well  understood  here  what  the 
effect  of  this  complaint  would  be  in  the  East,  and 
so  General  Miles  is  compelled  to  wait  and  let 
the  Indians  suit  themselves,  and  move  back  and 
forth  at  their  pleasure.  Some  of  them  came  to  the 
Mission,  six  miles  northwest  of  here,  Saturday 
night.  Scouts  reported  that  all  the  hostiles  were 
there  and  they  would  be  in  Sunday  morning. 
Double  guards  were  put  out,  lights  were  kept  in 
the  tents  all  night,  and  every  man  slept  with  his 
arms  within  reach.  In  the  morning  word  came  that 
the  band  which  had  been  at  the  Mission  the  night 
before  had  returned  to  the  main  body,  15  miles 
away,  and  that  they  were  almost  in.  The  hos 
tiles  have  runners  out,  and  they  have  been  in 
the  camp  of  the  "  friendlies  "  for  the  last  24 
hours,  trying  to  get  into  the  military  camp.  The 
Indians  are  just  as  anxious  to  know  what  the 
whites  are  going  to  do  as  the  whites  are  to  know 
what  the  Indians  will  do. 

Shortly  after  noon  it  was  discovered  that  the 
hostiles  had  made  a  rapid  advance,  and  about 
1,000  of  them  had  arrived  to  within  1,000  yards 
of  the  pickets  outside  the  agency.  General 
Miles  and  staff  went  to  the  picket  lines,  and 


272  MASTERING  THB  SITUATION. 

after  a  short  inspection  of  the  bands,  returned  to 
the  agency  for  the  time  being. 

The  Indians  will  not  be  permitted  to  enter  the 
agency,  and  communication  with  them  from 
within  has  been  prohibited.  When  they  do 
come  in  the  Ogallalla  Sioux  will  be  stationed  near 
R.ed  Cloud's  house  west  of  the  agency,  while  the 
Brules  will  be  placed  on  the  east.  On  the  same 
day  General  Miles  wrote  to  Buffalo  Bill  that  the 
hostiles  were  within  half  a  mile  of  the  agency 
and  that  nothing  but  an  accident  could  prevent 
the  establishment  of  peace.  He  authorized  the 
withdrawal  of  the  State  troops  and  thanked  them 
for  the  confidence  they  had  afforded  the  people 
in  their  frontier  homes. 

Though  between  three  and  four  hundred  of 
the  hostiles  broke  away  from  their  camp  near  the 
agency,  on  the  morning  of  January  I3th,  and 
made  their  escape  to  the  Bad  Lands,  the  remain 
der  clung  to  their  resolution  to  come  in,  and  their 
camp  was  in  full  view  of  the  agency  fortifications. 
The  view  from  the  fortifications  was  grandly 
picturesque.  Behind  them  was  a  natural  amphi 
theatre.  A  rugged  broken  slope  two  hundred 
feet  to  the  crest.  It  was  just  a  mile  from  the 
agency,  and  White  Clay  creek  runs  beside  it- 
On  the  plain  were  tepees  by  the  hundred,  pitched 
irregularly,  huddled  together  in  groups  here  and 


MASTERING  THE  SITUATION.  273 

scattered  widely  apart  there.  Moving  about 
among  the  tepees  a  field  glass  showed  the 
bucks  and  squaws  with  their  children  and 
dogs.  Such  a  spectacle  imprinted  itself  on  the 
mind  with  startling  clearness,  for  it  was  huge  in 
its  grandeur,  strikingly  unique  and  wonderfully 
suggestive  to  the  imagination. 

Just  between  the  plain  and  the  agency,  perched 
on  a  hill  behind  earthworks,  was  a  three-inch 
rifle,  which  was  trained  on  the  camp.  It  seemed 
to  stare  grimly  down  on  the  village  of  half-crazed 
barbarians  and  to  warn  them  of  the  awful  horror 
that  would  follow  one  rash  act. 

General  Miles  sent  the  following  to  General 
Schofield  :— 

"  General  Brooke's  command  is  now  camped 
five  miles  distant  on  White  Clay  Creek,  and 
the  entire  body  of  Indians  are  between  the  two 
commands.  General  Brooke  has  commanded  his 
force  with  considerable  skill  and  excellent  judg 
ment.  The  greatest  difficulty  is  now  to  restore 
confidence.  The  Indians  have  great  fear  that 
arms  will  be  taken  away,  and  then  all  treated 
like  those  who  were  on  Wounded  Knee  They 
have  a  large  number  of  wounded  women  and 
children,  which  creates  a  most  depressing  feeling 
among  the  families,  and  a  desperate  disposition 
among  them.  Military  measures  and  movements 


274  MASTERING  THE  SITUATION. 

have  been  successful.  The  control  and  govern 
ment  now  becomes  the  problem,  yet  no  serious 
embarrassment  is  apprehended  at  present." 

By  January  i5th  the  situation  had  much  im 
proved.  The  dispatches  ran  thus  : — 

"The  Indians  have  at  last  come,  or,  rather 
are  coming  in.  They  string  along  the  west 
bank  of  the  White  Clay  Creek  for  a  distance 
of  two  miles.  They  are  mounted,  walking, 
riding  on  wagons,  and,  in  fact,  are  advancing 
in  every  manner  known  to  them.  They  are 
driving  and  leading  immense  herds  of  ponies. 
Some  of  them  are  entering  the  friendlies'  camp  ; 
others  are  pitching  their  tepees  on  the  west  bank 
of  the  White  Clay.  These  are  the  Ogallallas. 
The  Brules,  however,  are  camping  in  the  bottom, 
around  Red  Cloud's  house,  and  half  a  mile  from 
the  agency  buildings. 

The  number  of  lodges  is  estimated  at  742,  and 
the  number  of  Indians  cannot  be  fewer  than  3,500. 
General  Brooke  has  been  ordered  to  march  with 
his  command  from  below  the  mission  to  tins 
point  and  will  reach  here  to-day.  A  part  of  his 
command  will  camp  on  the  west  bank  of  White 
Clay,  extending  north  of  the  Indians,  while 
another  will  flank  them  on  the  west  and  south. 
The  advance  guard  of  the  hostiles  had  scarcely 
reached  the  agency  when  Big  Road  sent  word 


MASTERING  THE  SITUATION.  275 

that  lie  had  collected  the  arms  of  his  followers 
and  wanted  to  surrender  them  to  the  agency. 
When  the  weapons  came  in  they  were  fonnd  to 
consist  of  simply  two  shot-guns,  a  heavy  rifle  and 
a  broken  carbine,  two  Sharp's  rifles  and  one  Win 
chester — nine  guns  in  all. 

This  surrender  is  an  evidence  that  the  Indians 
do  not  propose  to  give  up  all  their  guns  and  that 
they  have  hidden  their  best  weapons  in  the  hills. 
Standing  Bear,  American  Horse,  White  Bird  and 
Spotted  Horse,  friendly  chiefs,  are  now  asking 
protection  from  the  hos tiles,  who  have  camped 
among  them." 

Official  dispatches  from  General  Miles  to  Gen 
eral  Schofield  contained  the  following : — 

uln  order  to  restore  entire  confidence  among 
these  Indians,  I  have  found  it  necessary  to  send 
a  delegation  to  Washington,  to  receive  assurance 
of  the  highest  authority  of  the  good  intentions  of 
the  Government  toward  them.  This  will  answer 
a  double  purpose,  namely,  satisfy  them,  bridge 
over  the  transition  period  between  war  and  peace, 
dispel  distrust  and  hostility,  and  restore  confid 
ence.  It  will  also  be  a  guarantee  of  peace  while 
they  are  absent.  I  ask  that  my  action  may 
receive  the  approval  of  the  Department  by  tele 
graph.  Everything  is  progressing  satisfactorily, 


376  MASTERING  THE  SITUATION. 

and  I  can  see  no  reason  why  perfect  peace  may 
not  be  established." 

The  reply  from  Schofield  was  : — 

"The  Secretary  of  War  conferred  with  the 
President  and  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  in 
regard  to  your  proposal  to  send  a  delegation  of 
the  Sionx  Chiefs  to  Washington,  and  they 
approve  of  yonr  recommendation. 

The  Secretary  of  the  Interior  has  sent  an 
agent  to  conduct  them.  It  is  desired  that  the 
delegation  be  as  small  as  possible,  five  or  six,  or 
not  more  than  ten.  If  the  delegation  has  already 
started,  telegraph  at  once  the  number,  route  and 
commanding  officer." 

On  the  same  date,  January  I5th,  1891,  Gen 
eral  Miles  telegraphed  to  Schofield,  announc 
ing  the  end  of  Indian  troubles  in  the 
west.  "  The  entire  camp  of  Indians,"  says 
Miles,  "  came  into  the  agency  this  morning. 
They  moved  in  three  columns  while  passing 
under  the  guns  of  the  command." 

General  Miles  thought  it  fair  to  estimate  their 
number  at  not  less  than  4,000  people.  He  says 
he  has  directed  the  chiefs  to  have  the  different 
bands  gather  up  their  arms  and  turn  them  in, 
which  they  were  doing.  He  continues  : 

"  Kicking  Bear,  supposed  to  be  the  leader,  was 
jthe  first  to  surrender  his  rifle  this  morning,  and 


MASTERING  THE  SITUATION.  277 

others  of  the  same  character  will  follow  his 
example.  Of  course,  many  of  the  young  men 
may  hold  back  and  may  cache  their  arms,  but  I 
believe  the  disarming  will  be  complete.  Both 
officers  and  men  have  exercised  and  maintained 
a  most  commendable  discipline,  patience  and 
fortitude.  All  are  gratified  with  the  result.  It 
will  require  some  time  to  get  the  Indians  under 
full  control,  but  everything  is  moving  in  a  satis 
factory  manner.  The  troops  under  General 
Brooke  have  moved  forward  and  are  now  in  three 
strong  commands,  with  the  Indians,  upward  of 
7,000,  in  the  centre,  the  whole  within  the  radius 
of  ten  miles." 

In  reply  to  the  telegram  sent  by  General 
Schofield  concerning  the  departure  of  the  Indian 
delegation  for  Washington,  Genera!  Miles  says : 
"  There  is  no  necessity  of  haste.  I  do  not  intend 
to  send  delegation  until  this  matter  is  entirely 
settled  here,  and  Indians  do  as  I  have  directed, 
which  directions  they  are  now  complying  with  in 
every  respect.  This  Indian  war  I  now  consider 
at  an  end  in  the  most  satisfactory  manner.  A 
more  complete  submission  to  the  military 
power  has  never  been  known." 

The  situation  on  Jan.  i6th,  1891,  was  that  6,000 
Indians  still  clung  to  their  Winchesters  with 
grim  determination.  "I  must  have  them,"  said 


278  MASTERING  THE  SITUATION. 

General  Miles,  "even  if  it  becomes  necessary  to 
pour  a  few  wagon  loads  of  lead  into  their  camp  in 
order  to  get  them."  He  told  the  Chiefs  that 
nothing  short  of  a  full  surrender  of  arms  would 
be  accepted  as  an  evidence  of  surrender.  The 
Chiefs  gave  their  word  that  every  effort  would  be 
made  to  get  the  guns  away  from  their  followers, 
but  every  device  was  resorted  to  by  the  holders 
to  avoid  facing  the  music,  while  not  a  few  posi 
tively  refused  to  accept  the  terms  offered.  Miles 
remained  firm  and  gave  notice  that  all  who  did 
not  give  up  their  guns  by  night  would  have  them 
taken  away  by  force. 

On  the  i yth,  General  Miles  asked  for  a  con 
ference  with  the  principal  Chiefs.  There  was  an 
immediate  response.  Among  the  Chiefs  were 
Two  Strikes,  Short  Bull,  Eagle  Pipe,  Crow  Dog, 
Big  Turkey,  Black  Robe,  Kicking  Bear,  Iron 
Foot  and  Man  Raised  Above.  The  Chiefs  were 
Brules,  and  when  the  subject  of  returning  to  their 
agency  at  Rosebud  was  broached  they  said  they 
were  in  favor  of  returning  if  a  military  man 
should  be  placed  over  them  as  agent. 

After  a  little  more  parleying  Big  Road  stood 
up  and  solemnly  and  dramatically  proclaimed 
himself  in  favor  of  peace.  At  the  same  time.he 
asked  those  who  wished  to  join  him  in  restoring 
peace  and  working  for  the  prosperity  of  their 


MASTERING  THE  SITUATION.  379 

people,  to  raise  their  right  hand  towards  Heaven. 
Immediately  every  right  hand  in  the  gathering 
was  raised  on  high,  and,  with  a  general  shaking 
of  hands,  the  conference  came  to  a  close. 

On  January  i8th,  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior 
(Secretary  Noble) ,  stated  his  views  of  the  situa 
tion,  now  that  he  had  been  given  to  understand 
that  the  Indian  trouble  was  practically  over. 
First  of  all,  he  believed  the  Indians  had  no  legiti 
mate  use  for  firearms,  and,  therefore,  should  be 
required  to  dispose  of  them. 

Second,  he  thought  that  the  intellect  that  could 
master  the  mechanical  intricacies  of  the  rifle  was 
fully  capable  of  comprehending  and  appreciating 
the  usefulness  and  noble  simplicity  of  the  plow. 
He  proposed  to  give  the  hostile  Sioux  an  oppor 
tunity  as  well  as  an  incentive  to  earn  their  own 
living.  Of  the  244,000  Indians  in  the  United 
States,  over  two-thirds  were  earning  their  own 
living,  and  making  material  progress  in  civiliza 
tion.  The  other  third  were  depending  largely, 
if  not  entirely,  upon  the  Government  for  support. 
Of  this  latter  class  a  large  majority  were  Sioux, 
and  they  had  become  boastful,  arrogant  and  dic 
tatorial.  They  had  been  allowed  to  come  to 
Washington  every  year  or  two,  and  had  become 
deeply  impressed  with  their  own  importance. 
Some  of  those  who  are  most  vehement  in  their 


280  MASTERING  THE  SITUATION. 

demands  that  they  continue  to  be  fed  and  wholly 
maintained  at  the  expense  of  the  Government 
are  the  owners  of  quite  large  herds  of  cattle,  from 
which  they  realize  considerable  sums  of  money. 
Nevertheless  they  insist,  with  much  gusto,  that 
the  Government  shall  feed  them,  and  when  their 
rations  are  slightly  reduced  they  daub  on  the 
paint  and  start  out  on  the  warpath.  I  am  in  favor, 
said  the  Secretary,  of  making  these  people  work  for 
their  living,  just  as  we  white  people  are  doing.  They 
are  strong,  able-bodied  men,  of  average  intelligence, 
and  there  is  no  reason  why  they  should  not  earn 
their  bread.  The  Government  has  treated  them 
with  great  generosity  and  consideration  ;  especi 
ally  is  this  true  during  the  last  half  century. 
In  the  early  days  the  settlers  treated  them  as 
murderers  of  innocent  men,  women  and  children, 
and  the  insatiable  enemies  of  the  white  race. 
Latterly  they  have  beeen  treated  with  more  than 
kindness,  and  so  they  have  come  to  believe  that 
the  white  people  are  under  never-ending  obliga 
tions  to  them. 

The  time  has  fully  come,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
Secretary,  when  the  hostile  Sioux  should  be 
compelled  to  do  something  for  their  own  support. 
They  should  be  treated  with  perfect  fairness  and 
justice,  but  work  should  enter  largely  into  any 
policy  or  scheme  for  their  civilization. 


MASTERING  THE  SITUATION.  281 

By  January  22nd,  the  suomission  of  the  hos- 
tiles  had  been  so  complete  that  General  Miles 
resolved  upon  an  honorary  parade  of  his  troops, 
the  design  being  to  celebrate  the  return  of  peace 
and  to  impress  the  Indians  with  the  power  of  the 
Government,  and  a  sense  of  their  own  weakness. 
Ten  thousand  Sioux  were  given  an  opportunity  to 
view  the  strength  and  discipline  of  the  force  they 
had  confronted.  The  day  was  one  of  the  most  dis 
agreeable  of  the  campaign.  A  furious  wind  blew 
from  the  north,  driving  sand  and  snow  over  the 
valley  in  blinding  and  choking  sheets.  The 
camp  of  the  soldiers  was  two  miles  from  the 
agency.  Through  a  stifling  gale  of  sand  Gen 
eral  Miles  and  his  staff  rode  in  a  ragged  group, 
the  wind  tossing  the  tails  of  their  horses  over 
their  flanks.  It  was  after  10  o'clock  when  all  the 
preparations  were  complete  for  the  review.  The 
summits  of  the  buttes  to  the  north  were  then 
fringed  with  Sioux  warriors,  who  were  closely 
wrapped  in  their  blankets  and  staring  at  the  long 
lines  of  cavalrymen  and  infantry  which  stretched 
away  to  the  south  until  they  were  lost  in  the 
flying  sand.  The  redskins  were  still  suspicious 
that  some  move  would  be  made  to  wipe  them  off 
the  face  of  the  earth.  Stretching  in  a  long 
ghostly  line  along  the  ridge  of  the  buttes  to  the 
north  were  their  pickets  ready  to  give  the  word 


282  MASTERING  THE  SITUATION. 

that  would  send  the  redskins  flying  in  case  the 
soldiers  should  advance  upon  them. 

General  Miles  sat  upon  his  black  horse  on  a 
knoll  to  the  east  in  front  of  his  escort.  Finally 
there  came  through  the  gale  the  shrill  notes  of 
bugles.  They  were  so  faint  that  they  were  almost 
lost  in  the  storm.  Then  one  by  one  the  troops 
took  up  the  call  and  the  great  parade  of  the 
Regular  Army  began  to  pass  in  review.  Gen 
eral  Brooke,  muffled  up  in  a  wolf  skin  overcoat, 
grimy  from  the  sand  that  swirled  about  his  horse, 
and  followed  by  his  staff,  led  the  procession. 
When  the  horsemen  passed  in  front  of  General 
Miles,  the  two  leaders  of  the  campaign  tipped 
their  hats,  then  General  Brooke  took  a  position 
beside  his  superior. 

A  cloud  of  sand  now  swept  across  the  prairie, 
but  through  the  blinding  sheet,  and  with  heads 
muffled  in  huge  fur  capes,  came  the  great  detach 
ment  of  Sioux  scouts  with  Captain  Taylor,  with 
his  sword  at  a  salute,  at  their  head.  Sergeant 
Redshirt,  the  handsomest  Indian  in  the  Sioux 
nation,  was  at  the  extreme  right.  Yankton  Char 
lie,  who  saved  the  revolvers  of  poor  Lieutenant 
Casey,  rode  at  the  left  of  the  line,  his  overcoat 
buttoned  so  closely  about  him  that  the  war  feath 
ers  on  his  breast  were  concealed. 


MASTERING  TH3  SITUATION.  283 

Behind  these  famous  scouts  was  the  First  Reg 
iment  Band,  of  Angel  Island,  California,  in  fur 
mittens  and  caps,  playing  a  march  which  was  al 
most  lost  in  the  roar  of  the  storm.  Then  came 
the  great  swinging  column  of  infantry,  in  brown 
canvas  overcoats,  fur  caps,  and  the  glittering  bar 
rels  of  their  rifles  over  their  shoulders.  Colonel 
Shafter  rode  at  the  head  of  the  advance  columns. 
The  men  marched  in  company  front,  with  their 
red  and  white  guidons  tattered  by  shot  and  shell 
snapping  spitefully  in  the  gale.  This  was  the  fa 
mous  First  Regiment  of  the  army,  and  as  its  offi 
cers  passed  in  front  of  General  Miles,  their  swords 
flashed  through  the  flying  sand  and  then  fell  at 
their  saddle  girths.  The  band  now  ceased  play 
ing,  and  in  place  of  its  melody  there  came  the 
stirring  and  shrill  mutterings  of  a  dozen  bugles. 
Behind  the  trumpeters  tramped  the  Second  In 
fantry,  of  Omaha,  in  blue  overcoats  and  brown 
leggings,  with  Major  Butler  at  their  head  ;  and 
then  came  the  Seventeenth  Infantry,  swinging 
along  with  the  jauntiness  it  displayed  when  it 
marched  through  the  blizzard  and  sand  along 
Cheyenne  River. 

There  was  a  rumbling  back  of  the  Infantry 
where  the  mules  were  dragging  the  machine  can 
non.  Those  guns,  the  Indians  declare,  shoot 
to-day  and  kill  to-morrow.  Behind  these  machine 


284  MASTERING  THE  SITUATION. 

cannon  was  Captain  Capron's  battery  of  three 
inch  rifled  guns,  with  soldiers  holding  their  car 
bines  and  sitting  on  the  caissons.  Behind  the 
artillery  was  General  Carr,  astride  a  bay  horse 
and  leading  the  Sixth  Calvary,  which  has  cnt  its 
way  through  the  southwest  from  the  Indian 
Nation  to  the  Rio  Grande.  His  entire  regiment 
was  prancing  behind  him,  the  troopers  being 
mufHed  in  canvas  overcoats,  with  their  rifles  slung 
to  their  saddles.  General  Carr's  hat  went  off 
with  deliberate  grace.  Its  response  was  the  dip 
ping  of  General  Miles'  sombrero.  Then  the 
famous  leader  of  the  southwestern  troopers  drew 
up  alongside  of  General  Miles  and  General 
Brooke,  while  his  troops  pushed  forward  through 
the  storm.  More  Hotchkiss  guns  followed,  and 
then  came  the  Leavenworth  battalion,  a  mixed 
regiment  commanded  by  Colonel  Sanford.  Be 
hind  these  troops  was  still  another  battery  of 
Hotchkiss  guns,  the  carnages  of  which  still  bore 
evidences  of  the  furious  storm  of  shot  that  raged 
for  an  hour  at  Wounded  Knee. 

A  lean,  shrunken  face  man,  with  his  overcoat 
buttoned  tightly  around  his  throat,  and  mounted 
on  a  splendid  horse,  folio  wed  the  cannon.  It  was 
Colonel  Guy  V.  Henry,  who  was  shot  through 
the  face  in  a  battle  with  the  Sioux,  in  1876,  and 
who  led .  his  flying  negro  troops  of  the  9th 


MASTERING  THE  SITUATION.  285 

Cavalry,  in  the  all-night  ride  of  80  miles,  to  save 
tlie  7th.  Cavalry,  which.  '  was  threatened  with 
Custer's  fate  at  the  Catholic  Mission,  less  than 
four  weeks  ago.  Behind  him  were  long  lines  of 
black  faces  peering  from  fur  caps  and  the  high 
collars  of  buffalo  overcoats.  The  negro  Cavalry 
came  in  unbroken  columns,  with  its  world-famed 
and  decorated  heroes  of  the  Thornburg  massacre 
riding  at  the  extreme  left,  and  their  carbines  at 
a  salute.  Every  man  in  the  9th  Cavalry  was  in 
that  long  ebony  wave  of  faces,  and  as  it  swept  in 
front  of  General  Miles,  the  famous  Indian  fighter 
dipped  his  hat  again  and  again. 

There  was  another  battery  of  machine  guns, 
and  then  came  in  long  column  front  the  most 
celebrated  regiment  in  the  Western  Army.  It 
was  preceded  by  a  bugle  corps,  mounted  on  white 
horses,  and  from  the  glittering  instruments  there 
came  a  roar  that  even  the  screaming  of  the  storm 
could  not  drown.  The  troopers  of  the  yth 
Cavalry,  a  regiment  that  has  been  torn  and  leveled 
by  the  silent  ghost  dancers  on  the  buttes,  was 
approaching.  The  musicians  from  California 
began  to  play  "Garryo wen,"  a  stirring,  rollicking 
melody,  which  Custer  said  was  fit  music  for  any 
soldier's  death.  The  troopers  came  with  their 
carbines  at  a  salute  and  their  blue  capes  flung 
back,  so  that  their  yellow  linings  were  exposed 


286  MASTERING  THE  SITUATION. 

Major  Whiteside  was  in  command  of  the  regi 
ment.  As  it  passed  General  Miles,  the  whole 
staff  doffed  their  hats,  while  the  Commander  him 
self  waved  his  white-gloved  hand.  Troop  after 
troop  passed  by  with  guidons  that  had  been 
riddled  by  Indian  bullets,  until  B  troop  and  K 
troop  came  in  view.  The  appearance  of  these 
troops  aroused  the  emotions  of  the  spectators. 
B  troop  was  not  so' large  as  those  that  had  pre 
ceded  it,  and  K  troop  was  even  smaller.  When 
the  savages  at  Wounded  Knee  turned  their  car 
bines  on  the  soldiers,  these  troops  faced  an  awful 
fire.  K  troop  was  without  its  Commander  and 
all  of  its  commissioned  and  non-commissioned 
officers.  The  only  officer  to  lead  B  troop  was  a 
second  lieutenant,  with  a  bandage  about  his  head, 
but  the  gallant  troopers  who  remained  rode  with 
a  proud  bearing.  Their  rifles  were  held  over  the 
heads  of  their  horses.  Behind  the  Cavalry  came 
the  hospital  and  supply  trains  and  pack  mules. 

The  column  was  an  hour  passing  General 
Miles,  their  being  nearly  4,000  soldiers  and  3,700 
horses  and  mules  in  line. 

Such  was  the  end  of  the  Indian  uprising  of 
1890-91,  in  the  north-west.  The  promised  Com 
mission  of  Indian  Chiefs  came  duly  to  Washing 
ton  to  consult  with  the  "  Great  Father."  They 
arrived  about  the  last  of  January  1891,  and  were 


MASTERING  THE  SITUATION.  287 

received,  as  all  similar  delegations  Have  been, 
with  impressive  honors  mingled  with  curiosity. 
They  were  shown  aronnd  the  Capital  City  to 
impress  them  with  the  exhaustless  resources  of 
the  whites,  and  the  beauty  and  comfort  to  be 
attained  by  our  superior  civilization.  They 
were  shown  our  arsenals,  guns  great  and 
small,  and  our  endless  supplies  of  ammunition, 
as  much  as  to  say,  "What  General  Miles  has 
shown  you  at  Pine  Ridge  is  nothing  to  what 
we  have  in  reserve  for  you  if  you  do  not  behave 
yourselves."  They  were  dined  and  wined  to  give 
them  a  good  impression  of  our  hospitality. 
About  the  time  they  were  supposed  to  be  in 
prime  condition  for  an  official  reception  by  the 
"Great  Father,"  another  delegation  of  Chiefs 
came  upon  the  scene,  who  claimed  to  be  better 
representatives  of  the  Sioux  tribe  and  of  the 
Indian  situation,  than  the  first.  They  pro 
claimed  that  the  first  delegation  embraced  only 
worthless  Chiefs,  who  would  not  work  and  who 
were  hostile  at  heart,  whatever  their  professions 
might  be.  As  this  chapter  closes,  these  rival 
delegations  are  urging  their  respective  claims  on 
the  Government,  with  the  prospect  of  exhausting 
the  patience  of  the  authorities,  and  achieving 
nothing  of  moment  at  last. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

SENTIMENT  RESPECTING  THE 
UPRISING. 

MID  the  sensationalism  of  the  newspaper 
press  and  the  prejudicial  accounts  of  the 
Indian  situation  which  go  out  from  the 
agencies  and  the  conflicting  missionary 
centres  one  feels  glad  to  strike  a  vein  of  candor. 
Such  would  seem  to  be  found  in  the  statements  of 
Gen.  Nelson  A.  Miles,  who  has  not  only  mastered 
the  recent  critical  situation,  but  who  has  been  in 
contact  with  the  Indians  for  a  sufficiently  long 
time  to  enable  him  to  reason  correctly  and  ex 
press  himself  intelligently  and  truthfully.  He 
is  the  best  situated  man  in  the  country  to  state 
impartially  what  he  knows  of  the  relation  of  the 
Red  to  the  White  race.  That  he  has  done  so  in 
his  contribution  to  the  North  American  Review, 
for  January  1891,  no  one  can  have  cause  to  doubt. 
We  are  so  entirely  convinced  of  the  value  of  his 
views  as  to  regard  them  as  fitted  for  a  permanent 
place  in  the  history  of  Indian  affairs,  and  as  in 
valuable  in  the  consideration  of  such  a  policy  as 


SENTIMENT  RESPECTING  THE  UPRISING.          289 

will  do  credit  to  a  powerful  and  advancing  nation 
in  its  dealings  with  a  weaker  and  receding  nation. 
His  conclusions,  as  given  in  very  nearly  his  own 
language  are  as  follows  : — 

The  fact  that  we  have  had  a  few  years  of  peace 
is  no  guarantee  that  it  will  continue.  Within 
the  last  sixteen  years  we  have  had  no  less  than 
nine  Indian  wars,  and  now  we  find  ourselves 
threatened  with  a  more  serious  and  general  up 
rising  than  any  that  has  occurred  during  the 
whole  history  of  Indian  warfare.  The  confedera 
tion  of  the  "Six  Nations"  by  the  prophet,  the 
campaigns  of  Tecumseh,  and  the  conspiracy  of 
Pontiac  did  not  extend  over  so  vast  an  area  of 
country,  or  embrace  so  many  different  tribes, 
many  of  whom  have  been  hostile  to  each  other, 
as  the  present  conspiracy ;  and  while  the  condi 
tions  are  somewhat  similar  to  those  which  have 
preceeded  other  Indian  confederations,  conspira 
cies  and  wars,  this  one  has  unusual  features  and 
causes. 

The  Indians  are  practically  a  doomed  race,  and 
none  realize  it  better  than  themselves.  They  have 
contended  inch  by  inch  for  every  foot  of  territory 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific.  The  strength, 
superior  intelligence  and  ingenuity  of  the  white 
race  in  the  construction  of  weapons  of  war,  and 
their  vast  superiority  in  numbers,  have  not  de- 


29P         SENTIMENT  RESPECTING  THE  UPRISING. 

terred  the  Indians  from  resisting  the  power  of 
the  whites  and  beginning  hostilities,  sometimes 
even  with  apparently  little  justification,  cause 
or  hope  of  success  ;  and  there  would  be  nothing 
remarkable  in  the  history  of  such  a  warlike 
people,  if  they  made  one  desperate  effort  in  the 
death-struggle  of  the  race. 

The  subjugation  of  a  race  by  their  enemies 
cannot  but  create  feelings  of  most  intense  hatred 
and  animosity.  Possibly  if  we  should  put  ourselves 
in  their  place,  we  might  comprehend  their  feel 
ings.  Suppose,  for  instance,  that  instead  of 
being  a  nation  of  vast  wealth,  population,  pros 
perity  and  happiness,  our  numbers  were  narrow 
ed  down  to  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  souls, 
scattered  in  bands,  villages  or  settlements  of 
from  five  hundred  to  twenty  thousand  people, 
and  confined  within  the  limits  of  comparatively 
small  districts.  Suppose  this  vast  continent  had 
been  overrun  by  sixty  millions  of  people  from 
Africa,  India,  or  China,  claiming  that  their 
civilization,  customs,  and  beliefs  were  older  and 
better  than  ours,  compelling  us  to  adopt  their 
habits,  language  and  religion,  obliging  us  to  wear 
the  same  style  of  raiment,  cut  our  hair  according 
to  their  fashion,  live  upon  the  same  food,  sing 
the  same  songs,  worship  the  same  Allans, 
Vishnus  and  Brahmas ;  and  we  realized  that 


SENTIMENT  RESPECTING  THE  UPRISING.         291 

such  a  conquest  and  the  presence  of  such  a  horde 
of  enemies  had  become  a  withering  blight  and  a 
destroying  scourge  to  our  race :  what  then 
would  be  our  feelings  towards  such  a  people  ? 
In  considering  this  question  we  may  be  able  to 
realize  something  of  the  feelings  of  the  Indians 
to-day.  They  remember  the  romance  of  the 
freedom  and  independence  they  once  enjoyed  ; 
the  time  when  they  could  move  from  one  pleasant 
valley  to  another;  when  they  had  all. that  an  In 
dian  desires,  namely,  plenty  of  food,  comfortable 
lodges  made  of  skins  of  the  buffalo  or  elk,  plenty 
of  their  kind  of  clothing ;  and  when  they  were 
allowed  to  enjoy  their  customs,  rites,  and  amuse 
ments,  savage  and  brutal  as  they  were. 

The  first  time  the  writer  met  Sitting  Bull  was 
under  a  flag  of  truce  between  the  lines,  when  he 
had  a  thousand  warriors  behind  him ;  and  during 
the  conversation  I  think  he  expressed  in  a  few 
words  the  true  sentiment  of  the  Indian.  He  was 
what  might  be  considered  a  devotional  man, 
frequently  offering  a  little  prayer  and  saluting 
the  Great  Spirit.  One  remark  of  his  is  certainly 
significant.  Raising  his  eyes  toward  heaven,  he 
said  :  "  God  Almighty  made  me  an  Indian,  and 
he  did  not  make  me  an  agency  Indian,  and  I  do 
not  intend  to  be  one."  That  remark  was  in 
dorsed  by  huge  grunts  of  the  stalwart  savages 


292         SENTIMENT  RESPECTING  THE  UPRISING. 

within  hearing,  and  it  is  the  sentiment  of  the 
non-treaty,  disaffected  Indians  of  every  tribe  in 
every  section  of  the  great  West.  They  prefer  to 
be  Indians  in  their  wild  and  independent  life 
rather  than  to  be  confined  to  the  limits  of  any 
agency. 

While  we  have  continued  the  policy  of  using 
the    military   force   of   the   government  against 
them  with  all  severity,  as  soon  as  that  is  com 
pleted   and  the  tribes  are  subjugated,  they  are 
suddenly  turned  over  to  civilians,  some  from  the 
far-off  Eastern  States,  to  try  various  experiments 
and  to  carry  out  the  theories  that  they  have  of 
civilization.       Take,    for   instance,   the   Kiowas, 
Cheyennes  and  Comanches  of  the  Indian  Terri 
tory.      Their  history  has  been  a  history  of  peace 
and  war  for  many  years.     In  1874  they  had  a 
great  convention  or  medicine-dance,  which  result 
ed  in  a  general  uprising,  in  which  they  became  a 
terror  to  the  whole  southwest  country.      After 
committing  many  crimes  and  after  many  engage 
ments  with  the  troops,  they  were  finally  worn 
down   and    subjugated,    and    surrendered    with 
scarcely    any    means  of   continuing  hostilities. 
Most  of  the  few  remaining  war  ponies  they  had 
were  sold ;  they  gave  up  their  pale  and  emaciated 
white  captives,  who  in  turn  passed  down  the  line 
pf  warriors  and  pointed  out  not  less  than  seventy 


SENTIMENT  RESPECTING  THE  UPRISING.         293 

Comanches  wlio  had  committed  horrible  atrocities 
during  the  eight  months  of  hostility.  These 
seventy  warriors  were  sent  to  Florida  for  punish 
ment  and  the  military  control  of  the  tribes  was 
withdrawn.  Within  a  few  years  the  warriors 
were  returned  to  the  Indian  Territory,  and  in 
nine  years  from  that  time  the  same  Indians  were 
rearmed  and  remounted,  in  better  condition  for 
war  than  before,  and  ripe  for  an  outbreak.  The 
commanding  general  of  the  army  and  the  depart 
ment  commander  were  sent  to  the  Indian  Terri 
tory,  and  nearly  one-fourth  of  the  army  was 
concentrated  in  that  department  to  prevent 
a  serious  outbreak,  endangering  the  peace  of 
Kansas,  Colorado,  New  Mexico,  and  Texas,  by 
the  same  Indians  who  are  now  in  a  threatening 
condition. 

Again,  take  the  Sioux  nation,  that  committed 
the  terrible  massacre  of  '62  in  Minnesota,  in 
which  it  was  authoritatively  stated  that  one 
thousand  lives  were  lost,  and  a  very  large  mili 
tary  force  was  employed  to  bring  them  under 
control.  Thirty  of  the  principal  leaders  were 
tried  and  hanged,  but  yet  that  experience  did  not 
deter  others  of  the  same  Indians  from  engaging 
in  the  subsequent  wars  of  the  Sioux  nation.  In 
1867  the  Sioux  were  again  in  a  condition  of  hos 
tility,  and  the  Fetterman  massacre  occurred,  the 


294         SENTIMENT  RESPECTING  THE  UPRISING. 

Indians  being  led  by  the  same  man,  (Red  Cloud) 
who  is  said  recently  to  have  been  instrumental 
in  causing  dissatisfaction  among  the  different 
tribes.  Treaties  were  made  with  them  in  iS6^y 
but  in  1876,  they  were  again  openly  hostile, 
spreading  terror  over  a  vast  section  of  the  coun 
try,  embracing  a  portion  of  the  two  Dakotas, 
Montana,  Northern  Nebraska,  and  a  part  of 
Wyoming.  The  massacre  on  the  Little  Big 
Horn  followed  in  1876,  in  which  two  hundred 
and  sixty  officers  and  soldiers  under  General 
Custer  perished.  After  two  seasons  of  campaign 
ing  against  them  by  the  United  States  troops, 
during  the  winter  of  1875  an^  the  summer  of 
1876,  and  the  terribly  severe  winter  campaign 
of  1876  and  1877,  upwards  of  five  thousand 
agreed  to  surrender,  and  nine  of  their  principal 
men  gave  themselves  as  hostages  that  the  tribes 
would  surrender  on  the  Yellowstone  or  at  the 
different  agencies ;  which  they  did  with  the 
exception  of  two  bands  under  the  leadership  of 
Lame  Deer  and  Sitting  Bull.  The  former  was 
killed  in  the  following  May,  and  the  latter  driven 
to  Canada  and  kept  north  of  the  boundary  for 
three  years,  iintil  he  and  his  followers  finally 
surrendered  between  1877  and  1881. 

For  four  years   from  1877    to   1881   they  were 
under  military  control,  and   many  of  them  were 


SENTIMENT  RESPECTING  THE  UPRISING.         295 

made  self-sustaining.  They  were  disarmed  and  dis 
mounted,  their  war  ponies  were  sold  and  the  pro 
ceeds  returned  to  them  in  domestic  stock,  and  in  a 
few  years  they  had  a  large  herd  of  cattle,  and 
wagons  and  cultivated  fields.  In  1881  they  were 
ordered  to  be  sent  down  the  Yellowstone  and  Mis 
souri  to  the  southern  agencies,  and  although 
they  implored  the  different  officers  to  write  or 
telegraph  to  the  authorities  in  Washington  to 
leave  them  where  their  crops  were  developing  in. 
the  fields,  they  were  loaded  on  five  large  steam 
boats  and  shipped  down  the  river,  and  turned 
over  to  the  Indian  agent  at  Standing  Rock 
Agency. 

Many  of  these  same  Indians  are  now  in  a  con 
dition  of  threatening  hostility.  Within  the  short 
space  of  ten  years  we  find  the  condition  of  the 
Cheyennes  and  Sioux  Indians  to  be  as  follows  ; 
the  fine  herd  of  cattle  belonging  to  the  Chey 
ennes  has  disappeared.  They  claim  that  it  has 
been  partly  taken  by  the  whites,  and  that  they 
were  obliged  to  use  the  remainder  for  food.  They 
claim  that  it  was  almost  impossible  for  them  to 
obtain  food  without  committing  depredations, 
and  they  stated  in  the  presence  of  a  commission 
recently  visiting  them  that  they  were  "  compelled 
to  eat  their  dogs  in  order  to  sustain  life."  The 
fact  that  they  have  not  received  sufficient  food 


296         SENTIMENT  RESPECTING  THE  UPRISING. 

is  admitted  by  the  agents  and  the  officers  of  the  gov 
ernment  who  have  had  opportunities  of  knowing, 
and  their  condition  is  again  as  threatening  as  at 
any  time  when  they  have  not  been  in  hostility. 

The  Sioux  Indians  during  that  time  were 
under  the  charge  of  civil  agents,  who  have  been 
frequently  changed,  and  often  inexperienced. 
Many  of  the  tribes  have  become  rearmed  and 
remounted,  and  have  assumed  a  threatening  atti 
tude.  They  claim  that  the  government  has  not 
fulfilled  its  treaties  and  has  failed  to  make  large 
enough  appropriations  for  their  support ;  they 
also  claim  that  they  have  suffered  for  the  want 
of  food,  and  the  evidence  of  this  is  beyond  ques 
tion  and  sufficient  to  satisfy  any  unprejudiced, 
intelligent  mind.  The  statements  of  the  officers, 
inspectors  both  of  the  Military  and  the  Interior 
Department,  of  agents,  of  missionaries  and  civil 
ians  familiar  with  their  condition,  leave  no  room 
for  reasonable  doubt  that  this  is  one  of  the  princi 
pal  causes  of  the  present  disturbance.  While 
statements  may  be  made  as  to  the  amount  of 
money  that  has  been  expended  by  the  Govern 
ment  to  feed  the  different  tribes,  and  while  there 
is  no  intention  of  questioning  the  honesty  of  all 
concerned,  the  manner  of  distributing  those  appro 
priations  will  furnish  one  reason  for  the  deficit. 


SENTIMENT  RESPECTING  THE  UPRISING.         297 

Another  cause  is  the  unfortunate  failure  of  the 
crops  in  the  plains  country  during  the  last  two 
years.  It  has  been  almost  impossible  for  the 
Indians  to  raise  anything  from  the  ground  for 
self-support ;  in  fact,  white  settlers  have  been 
very  unfortunate  and  their  losses  have  been 
serious  and  universal  through  a  large  section  of 
that  country.  They  have  struggled  on  from 
year  to  year ;  occasionally  they  would  raise  good 
crops  of  corn,  which  they  were  compelled  to  sell 
for  from  fourteen  to  twenty  cents  per  bushel, 
while  in  the  season  of  drought  their  labor  was 
almost  entirely  lost.  So  serious  have  been  their 
misfortunes  that  many  hundreds  have  left  the 
country  within  the  last  few  years,  passing  over 
the  mountains  to  the  Pacific  slope  or  returning 
to  the  east  banks  of  the  Missouri  and  Mississippi. 

The  Indian,  however,  cannot  migrate  from  one 
part  of  the  United  States  to  another ;  neither  can 
he  obtain  employment  as  readily  as  white  peo 
ple,  either  upon  or  beyond  the  Indian  reserva 
tions.  He  must  remain  in  comparative  idleness 
and  accept  the  results  of  the  drought.  This 
creates  a  feeling  of  discontent,  even  among  the 
loyal  and  well-disposed,  while  there  is  quite  a 
large  element  that  is  hostile  and  opposed  to  every 
process  of  civilization. 


298         SENTIMENT  RESPECTING  THE  UPRISING. 

In  this  condition  of  affairs  the  Indians  realize 
ithe  inevitable,  and  as  they  see  their  numbers 
gradually  diminishing,  their  strength  and  power 
gone,  they  pray  to  their  God  for  some  supernat 
ural  help  to  aid  them  in  the  restoration  of  their 
former  independence,  and  for  the  destruction  of 
their  enemies.  At  this  stage  emissaries  from  a 
certain  religious  sect  or  people  living  on  the 
western  slope  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  came 
among  them  announcing  that  the  real  Messiah 
had  appeared ;  and  in  order  to  convince  them 
selves,  delegations  of  Sioux,  Cheyennes,  and 
other  tribes  left  their  reservations  a  year  ago 
last  November,  travelling  through  the  Arra- 
pahoe  and  Shoshone  reservations  in  Wyo 
ming,  and  thence  via  the  Union  Pacific  they 
passed  into  Utah,  and  were  joined  by  others,  Ban 
nocks  and  Pi-Utes,  until  they  came  to  a  large 
conclave  of  whites  and  Indians  in  Nevada.  They 
were  there  told  that  those  present  were  all  believ 
ers  in  this  new  religion,  that  they  were  all 
an  oppressed  people,  that  the  whites  and  Indians 
there  were  all  the  same,  and  that  the  Messiah 
had  returned  to  them. 

So  well  was  this  deception  played  by  men 
masquerading  and  personating  Christ,  that  they 
made  these  superstitious  savages  believe  that  all 
who  had  faith  in  this  "  new  religion "  would 


SENTIMENT  RESPECTING  THE  UPRISING          299 

occupy  tne  earth,  and  all  who  do  not  would  be 
destroyed  ;  and  they  were  told  that  which  is  most 
precious  to  the  Indian  heart,  that  the  spirits  of 
their  departed  relatives  would  be  resurrected, 
and  that  after  the  whites  were  destroyed  they 
would  come  back  driving  vast  herds  of  buffaloes 
and  wild  horses.  They  there  met  the  represent 
atives  of  fourteen  tribes  of  Indians,  and  after  sev 
eral  months  they  returned  to  the  various  tribes 
and  announced  what  they  had  seen  and  heard, 
fully  convinced  that  what  had  been  told  them 
was  true.  But  in  order  to  gratify  the  savage 
nature  of  the  warlike  Sioux  they  agreed  that 
acts  would  be  necessary  to  appease  or  hasten  the 
coming  of  the  Messiah  ;  that  they  must  help  re 
move  the  whites  and  thereby  show  their  faith  by 
their  works. 

To  the  disaffected,  turbulent,  hostile  spirit  of 
such  men  as  Sitting  Bull  and  others  this  was  like 
a  revelation  ;  nothing  could  be  more  gratifying ; 
and  the  false  prophets  and  medicine-men  imme 
diately  took  advantage  of  the  condition  of  the  In 
dians  to  proclaim  this  doctrine  and  spread  disaffec 
tion  among  the  different  tribes. 

In  early  life  Sitting  Bull  gained  his  reputation 
as  a  warrior  by  incessantly  organizing  and  lead- 
ding  raiding  parties  and  by  his  perpetual  hostility 
to  the  white  race.  Few  Indians  have  appeared  on 


3co         SENTIMENT  RESPECTING  THE  UPRISING. 

this  continent  who  have  been  more  successful  in 
organizing  and  drawing  to  them  large  bodies  of 
the  discontented  of  their  people.  Emissaries  trav 
elled  in  various  directions,  not  alone  from  his  tribe 
but  more  especially  from  the  Shoshones  and 
Arrapahoes,  who  have  been  to  some  extent  peace 
able  for  many  years,  going  to  the  different  tribes 
and  endeavoring  to  persuade  them  to  this  belief. 
Emissaries  from  Sitting  Bull  carried  the  tidings 
to  the  different  tribes  to  get  all  the  arms  and  am 
munition  possible,  and  meet  all  the  warriors  near 
the  Black  Hills  in  the  spring.  They  visited  the 
band  of  Sioux  Indians  north  of  the  British  bound 
ary,  and  sympathy  and  promise  of  support  were 
returned.  The  first  sign  of  disturbance  was  to 
be  the  signal  for  the  gathering  of  the  warriors. 

During  the  last  few  years,  and  while  there  was 
apparently  no  danger  of  immediate  outbreak,  the 
Indians  have  been  getting  a  large  amount  of  am 
munition  and  arms.  The  Indian's  instinct  is  al 
ways  to  obtain  some  weapon  of  warfare  or  defence, 
and  if  he  cannot  obtain  a  rifle,  he  will  get  a  knife 
or  a  bow  and  arrow.  His  favorite  weapon,  and 
one  he  has  been  most  desirous  of  obtaining,  is 
the  long-range  Winchester  rifle,  which  is  a  rifle 
of  the  most  effective  kind. 

The  theory  that  a  few  lines  of  railway  and  the 
disappearance  of  the  vast  herds  of  buffaloes  have 


SENTIMENT  RESPECTING  THE  UPRISING.         301 

made  it  impracticable  for  Indians  to  go  to  war  is 
erroneous.  They  are  in  a  better  condition  for 
war  at  present  than  ever  before ;  they  can  live 
npon  domestic  stock,  and  there  is  abundance  of 
it  scattered  over  the  plains  country  and  much  of 
the  mountain  country ;  and  the  numerous  horse- 
ranches  would  furnish  them  a  remount  in  nearly 
every  valley.  The  Nez  Perces,  Bannocks,  and 
Apaches  in  their  receipt  wars  lived  and  moved  en 
tirely  upon  the  stock  of  white  settlers.  The  area 
over  which  they  could  roam  is  the  country  west 
of  the  Missouri  River  between  the  Canadian 
boundary  and  the  Rio  Grande.  It  contains  a 
very  sparse  population  that  has  been  struggling 
to  plant  homes. 

Another  reason  of  encouragement  to  the  Indians 
to  assume  hostilities,  and  one  of  which  their  false 
prophets  take  advantage  in  influencing  their  fol 
lowers,  is  the  misfortunes  that  have  occured  to 
the  white  people  in  the  plains  country  during  the 
last  few  years.  Three  years  ago  a  very  large 
percentage  of  the  domestic  stock  was  destroyed 
by  the  intensely  cold  winter  of  1887,  and  the  losses 
were  ruinous  to  thousands  of  white  settlers 
and  ranchmen.  The  drought  during  the  last  two 
years  has  been  very  serious,  and  has  caused  many 
of  the  poor  settlers  who  have  been  struggling  for 
years  to  support  themselves  and  their  families  to 


302         SENTIMENT  RESPECTING  THE  UPRISING. 

leave  that  country  in  pursuit  of  better  fields  west 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains  or  east  of  the  Missouri. 
This,  the  false  prophets  claim,  is  an  indication 
that  the  Great  Spirit  is  angry  with  the  white  peo 
ple  for  destroying  their  buffaloes  (cattle)  and  caus 
ing  them  to  leave  the  country,  and  that  in  time 
their  buffaloes  will  return,  as  well  as  their  dead 
relatives. 

While  the  Indians  have  been  in  this  disaffected 
condition  and  rearming  and  remounting,  the  little 
army  that  is  the  only  safeguard  between  the  un 
protected  settlers  and  the  savage  hordes  has  been 
employed  in  other  fields,  and  its  supplies  and 
equipments  have  been  seriously  curtailed.  Con 
gress  has  fixed  the  limit  of  the  enlisted  men  in  the 
army,  the  number  of  employees,  the  number  of 
horses  and  the  number  of  mules,  and  the  limit  is 
what  might  be  required  in  time  of  peace,  rather 
than  what  is  actually  required  in  serious  warfare. 
Congress,  however,  has  not  limited  Indian  wars. 
This  necessarily  causes  much  embarrassment  to 
the  United  States  troops  ;  yet  it  has  been  the  ex 
perience  of  the  army  of  the  United  States  to  cope 
with  the  large  number  of  savage  tribes,  experienc 
ing  all  the  dangers  and  hardships  of  a  war  in 
which  no  quarter  is  expected,  and  every  officer  and 
soldier  who  enters  an  Indian  campaign  realizes 


SENTIMENT  RESPECTING  THE  UPRISING.         303 

that  unless  he  achieves  success,  naught  awaits 
him  bnt  torture  or  death. 

No  one  who  has  not  experienced  it  can  com 
prehend  or  appreciate  the  fortitude,  hardships  and 
sacrifices  displayed  and  endured  by  our  army  in 
its  years  of  experience  in  Indian  warfare ;  fre 
quently  in  the  wildest  and  most  rugged  sections 
of  country,  amid  canyons,  mountains,  and  lava- 
beds,  under  the  tropical  heats  of  the  south  or  in 
the  Arctic  blizzards  of  the  extreme  north ;  yet, 
year  after  year,  it  discharges  whatever  service  is 
required  of  it  with  most  commendable  fidelity. 

You  ask  me  who  is  responsible  for  this  con 
dition  of  affairs.  The  answer  is,  both  the  whites 
and  the  Indians. 

First — Those  white  men  who  have  compelled 
the  Indians  to  live  upon  limited  tracts  of  land 
and  allowed  them  to  get  into  the  condition  in 
which  we  now  find  them,  dissatisfied  and  equipped 
for  war. 

Second — Another  class  of  whites  are  those  who 
have  committed  the  great  crime  of  instilling  into 
the  minds  of  these  superstitious  and  vicious  sav 
ages  the  delusion  that  they  have  a  Messiah  among 
them,  and  that  the  white  people  who  do  not  believe 
it  will  be  destroyed  by  some  supernatural  power:  it 
matters  not  whether  the  Indians  have  been  incited 
by  this  class  of  white  people  in  actual  words  to 


304         SENTIMENT  RESPECTING  THE  UPRISING. 

open  hostilities  or  not ;  the  deceptions  that  have 
been  practised  npon  them  have  aroused  their  war 
like  natures  until  they  are  in  a  condition  for  de 
vastation,  plunder,  ravage,  and  all  the  horrors 
that  savage  fiends  can  inflict  upon  defenceless 
and  unprotected  people. 

Third — Another  class. of  people  who  are  respon 
sible  are  the  white  men  who  have  made  merchan 
dise  of  the  welfare  and  safety  of  their  own 
people ;  in  other  words,  those  who  have  sold 
thousands  of  improved  magazine  long-range  rifles 
and  tons  of  ammunition  to  savages,  which  alone 
enable  them  to  devastate  the  country.  Those 
Indians  could  manufacture  neither  a  rifle,  a  car 
tridge,  nor  a  knife  ;  yet  they  are  better  armed  and 
better  supplied  with  ammunition  to-day  than  at 
any  time  in  their  history. 

Fourth — Those  who  are  to  blame  for  this 
threatened  danger  are  the  Indians  themselves ; 
and  Halleck's  description  of  Red  Jacket  is  not  a 
bad  illustration  of  the  Indian's  double  character. 
While  they  have  wrongs  and  grievances  that 
have  been  fully  enumerated,  at  the  same  time 
they  have  friends  anxious  to  protect  their  inter 
ests  ;  but,  notwithstanding  this,  they  would  in 
justification  of  some  real  or  imaginary  wrong,  or 
prompted  by  some  wild,  savage  religious  frenzy, 
ravage  a  country  and  brain  the  innocent  prattling 


SENTIMENT  RESPECTING  THE  UPRISING.         305 

babe  with  fiendish  delight  as  readily  as  they 
would  meet  a  stalwart  foe. 

-If  you  ask  for  a  remedy  that  will  prevent  the 
possibility  of  such  a  condition  of  affairs  in  the 
future,  I  would  say  that  I  have  not  changed  the 
opinion  formed  and  stated  thirteen  years  ago. 
After  careful  observation  of  all  the  principal 
tribes  in  the  United  States,  I  believe  that  those 
people  who  have  been,  and  are  still,  a  terror  to  the 
peace  and  good  order  of  certain  States  and  Terri 
tories  should  be  placed  under  some  government 
just  and  strong  enough  to  control  them. 

The  time  has  arrived  when  the  lifes,  welfare, 
prosperity,  and  future  of  those  great  States  are 
too  precious  and  too  valuable  to  be  jeopardized  by 
these  yearly  alarms  and  frequent  Indian  wars. 
While  thousands  of  people  have  fled  from  their 
little  homes,  and  abandoned  most  of  their  property, 
to  seek  shelter  and  refuge  in  any  place  where  it 
could  be  obtained,  and  while  thousands  of  resolute 
and  intrepid  officers  and  soldiers  are  enduring  the 
severity  of  a  Dakota  winter  to  hold  in  restraint 
these  tribes  of  turbulant  savages,  it  is  hoped  that 
some  conclusion  will  be  reached  by  the  Govern 
ment  to  permanently  end  the  present  state  of 
affairs.  The  subject  is  too  serious  for  selfishness, 
acrimony,  or  partianship.  It  requires  judicious, 
humane,  and  patriotic  treatment. 


3o6        SENTIMENT  RESPECTING  THE  UPRISING. 

As  a  sample  of  the  difficulties  General  Miles 
had  to  contend  with  in  drawing  his  cordon  around 
the  hostiles  and  gradually  forcing  a  surrender 
against  which  they  could  hardly  murmur,  we 
instance  the  murder  of  Few  Tails,  who  was 
revered  in  his  tribe,  and  who  ranked  as  a  philoso 
pher  among  his  kind.  He  was  never  regarded 
as  other  than  friendly  and  his  influence  was 
courted  whenever  negotiations  of  a  serious  nature 
impended.  A  Pine  Ridge  correspondent  thus 
tells  of  his  murder,  under  the  date  of  January 
19,  1891 : — When  treacherous  whites  in  the  Bear 
Butte  country  wantonly  murdered  old  Few  Tails 
last  week,and  wounded  his  squaw,  they  committed 
an  outrage  that  has  come  near  ruining  General 
Miles)  plans,  and  stampeding  the  5,000  hostiles 
who  are  in  camp  here.  Few  Tails  was  a  relative 
of  Young-man-afraid-of-his-horses,  the  *  only 
hereditary  chief  in  the  Great  Sioux  nation,  and 
the  most  powerful  leader  among  his  people. 

Few  Tails'  party  were  on  their  way  to  Pine 
Ridge  from  a  hunt  in  the  Bear  Butte  country. 
The  party  consisted  of  six  bucks,  two  squaws, 
twelve  ponies  and  two  wagons.  They  carried 
with  them  a  pass  from  General  Brooke,  and 
assurances  from  Captain  Taylor  that  they  were 
peaceable.  Not  a  member  of  the  little  band  was 
painted  and  they  carried  no  ammunition  or  guns. 


SENTIMENT  RESPECTING  THE  UPRISING.         307 

Early  on  the  morning  of  the  nth.  they  started 
on  their  journey  southward.  Before  breaking  up 
camp  they  carefully  banked  their  fires. 

They  had  gone  but  a  short  distance  when  they 
were  fired  upon  from  an  ambush  by  a  party  of 
•whites.  Few  Tails  fell  dead.  One  bullet 
pierced  his  brain  and  another  missile  struck  him 
in  the  breast.  His  squaw  was  shot  in  the  leg 
and  breast  and  probably  fatally  hurt. 

Few  Tail's  corpse  lay  among  the  wild  meat  in 
the  vehicle,  while  his  squaw  managed  to  crawl  to 
the  bushes,  where  she  hid  for  a  day  before  set 
ting  out  on  her  painful  tramp  to  Pine  Ridge,  one 
hundred  miles  away.  The  rest  of  the  Indians 
abandoned  the  other  wagon  and  fled,  and  she 
supposed  that  they  too,  were  slain.  About 
twenty  yards  from  the  place  where  Few  Tails 
was  killed,  Lieutenant  Marshall,  of  the  Eighth 
Cavalry,  found  twenty  or  more  Winchester  rifle 
cartridges  in  a  clump  of  bushes  where  the  mur 
derers  were  in  hiding  when  the  Indians  were  pass 
ing  along.  On  the  day  of  the  murder  two  young 
men  by  the  name  of  Culbertson  called  at  the 
camp  of  Colonel  Merriam,  of  the  Seventh  In 
fantry,  and  admitted  that  they  had  killed  the  In 
dians,  but  claimed  that  the  band  had  been  caught 
stealing  horses.  Colonel  Merriam,  in  his  report 
to  General  Miles,  says  this  story  is  untrue,  and 


308         SENTIMENT  RESPECTING  THE  UPRISING. 

requests  that  the  Governor  of  South  Dakota  be 
advised  of  the  outrage,  so  that  the  murderers 
may  be  punished.  Lieutenant  Marshall,  in  his 
report,  characterizes  the  killing  as  cold  blooded 
murder.  When  the  wounded  squaw  crawled  into 
the  camp  of  the  Sixth  Cavalry  at  this  place, 
yesterday,  she  was  almost  dead. 

So  slow  had  been  the  transmission  of  official 
reports  that  the  wounded  woman,  although  she 
has  stumbled  and  fallen  all  the  way  from  Bear 
Butte,  preceded  them  by  a  half  hour.  When 
she  reached  the  hospital  she  began  to  rave  about 
the  murder  of  Few  Tails.  The  Indians  who  were 
nursing  the  other  wounded  Sioux  quickly  spread 
the  report  that  a  relative  of  Young-man-afraid-of- 
his-horses  had  been  killed  by  the  whites. 

Almost  instantly  there  was  commotion  in  the 
hostile  camp.  Scouts  reported  the  situation  to 
General  Miles,  who  immediately  sent  runners 
after  Young-man -afraid-of-his-horses.  When  the 
chief  appeared  at  headquarters  and  learned  of 
the  ingratitude  of  the  whites  he  scowled,  and  for 
a  few  moments  refused  to  be  pacified.  Meantime 
the  hostiles  were  saddling  up  their  horses  on 
the  sides  of  the  buttes  and  herding  their  cattle. 
It  is  a  fact  that  it  took  all  the  diplomacy  at  the 
command  of  General  Miles  and  his  staff  to  win 
back  the  good  will  of  the  great  chief.  Finally 


SENTIMENT  RESPECTING  THE  UPRISING.         309 

the  latter  walked  away  apparently  satisfied  tliat 
the  army  at  least  was  not  responsible  for  the 
assassination,  but  the  fright  of  the  hostiles  was 
intensified  to  such  an  extent  that  the  military 
became  alarmed. 

Captain  Charles  King,  of  the  Regular  Army, 
in  speaking  of  the  death  of  Lieutenant  Casey, 
while  on  a  tour  of  observation  and  in  front  of 
one  of  the  hostile  Brule  camps,reminds  the  country 
of  the  immense  losses  of  valuable  lives  occa 
sioned  by  each  Indian  uprising.  The  aggregate 
is  certainly  appalling,  and  to  read  the  list  it  is 
fair  to  conclude  that  Indian  wars,  by  reason 
of  their  frequency,  are  far  more  disastrous  in  the 
end  than  a  square  bout  with  a  foreign  nation  has 
ever  proved  to  be.  The  Captain  says  : — 

"Another  brave  spirit  gone !  Another  gallant 
fellow  foully  and  treacherously  murdered  by  the 
red  men,  and  God  alone  knows  who  is  to  go  next." 

There  was  something  particularly  sad  about 
the  killing  of  Lieutenant  Casey.  He  was  one  of 
the  pets  of  the  whole  service,  and  by  that  I  mean 
not  the  pets  described  by  the  Washington  corres 
pondents  of  some  of  our  papers,  but  a  frontier 
pet — a  man  loved  by  his  comrades  and  almost  wor 
shipped  by  his  men,  because  of  the  genial  qualities 
that  seemed  to  overflow  within  him. 


3TO         SENTIMENT  RESPECTING  THE  UPRISING. 

He  was  full  of  wit,  fun,  and  devilment — a  ring 
leader  in  the  pranks  of  his  classmates,  and  the 
center  of  a  laughing  group  at  every  recreation 
hour. 

He  was  one  of  the  cracK  officers  of  his  regi 
ment — Stanley's  old  Twenty-second. 

His  selection  to  organize  and  command  the 
first  troop  of  Indian  scouts  raised  for  service  in 
the  North-west  was  an  admirable  one.  Heart  and 
soul  he  threw  himself  into  the  task,  and  his  en 
thusiasm  had  even  reached  and  impressed  the 
Secretary  of  War. 

Mr.  Remington,  the  artist,  who  has  done  such 
yeoman  service  in  bringing  our  frontier  life  and 
service  before  the  eyes  of  the  people,  was  with 
him  at  the  moment  of  his  tragic  end,  and  has 
told  in  simple  but  thrilling  words  the  story  of 
how  the  Brules  first  invited  his  coming,  then 
turned  him  back,  and,  like  the  brutal  cowards 
they  are,  shot  him  dead  the  instant  his  head  was 
turned. 

Where  will  it  end  ? 

Only  a  fortnight  ago  we  got  the  news  of  Wa.- 
lace's  death  at  Wounded  Knee,  and  of  the  wound 
ing  of  Garlington,  Mann  and  Hawthorne.  Does 
anyone  realize,  I  wonder,  what  losses  the  little 
army  has  sustained  in  our  battling  with  the  hos- 
tiles,  for  whom,  if  the  truth  were  told,  we  feel  far 


SKNriMHNT  RESPECTING  THE  UPRISING          31! 

more  sympathy  and  friendship  as  a  rule  than  do 
the  people  at  large  ?  It  would  be  far  too  long  a 
story  to  tell  of  the  years  spent  in  close  proximity 
to  the  various  tribes,  the  intimate  knowledge 
acquired  of  their  actual  needs,  their  real  wrongs  ? 
their  fancied  grievances,  their  usual  treatment  at 
the  hands  of  the  politically  appointed  Indian 
agents. 

Just  at  this  moment  I  am  mainly  impressed 
with  the  truth  and  far  reaching  extent  of  the  con 
viction  forced  upon  me  years  ago — that  the  army 
is  but  the  buffer  interposed  between  the  white  and 
the  red  man,  and  no  matter  whether  the  original 
wrong  is  wrought  by  agent  or  Indian,  when  the 
latter  takes  the  \varpath  it  is  the  soldier  who 
suffers. 

I  am  bound  to  say  that  once  he  digs  up  the 
hatchet  and  prepares  for  business  our  noble  red 
man  forgets  the  favors  and  hospitalities  shown 
him  perhaps  for  years  by  his  soldier  friends,  and 
he  eagerly  draws  a  bead  on  Captain  this  or 
Lieutenant  that,  around  whose  doorsteps  he  has 
been  begging  or  in  whose  kitchen  he  has  been 
fed  more  times  than  he  can  count  on  his  car 
tridges,  and  he  is  sure  to  have  a  plentiful  supply 
of  these.  He  buys  them  between  times  as  he 
does  his  Winchester  or  Henry  at  ten  times  their 
cost  price  in  furs  or  peltries  from  the  very  settlers 


312        SENTIMENJ  RESPECTING  THE  UPRISING. 

who  are  the  first  to   importune  the  Government 
for  troops  and  arms  as  soon  as  trouble  comes. 

If  Indian  war  is  not  rough  on  officers  then  sta 
tistics  are  forked-tongued,  as  the  Indian  would 
say,  but  I  hope  no  life  insurance  agency  will 
believe  them.  But  let  us  look  at  the  list  of  offi 
cers  slain  by  our  red  men  in  these  days  of  piping 
peace.  It  is  formidable. 

Brigadier  General  E.  R.  S.  Canby,  massacred 
at  the  Modoc  Council  in  the  Lava  Beds,  April 
1873 — a  damnable  piece  of  treachery,  as  was 
the  almost  simultaneous  murder  of  Lieutenant 
Will  Sherwood,  Twenty-First  Infantry,  whom 
they  enticed  to  meet  them  by  waving  a  flag  of 
truce  and  then  shot  him  down  when  he  came  to 
them  "  with  peace  in  his  outspread  hands. " 

Lieutenant  Colonel  William  H.  Lewis,  Nine 
teenth  Infanty,  in  Western  Kansas,  September 
1878. 

Lieutenant  Colonel  George  A.  Custer,  Seventh 
Cavalry,  at  the  battle  of  Little  Big  Horn,  in 
Montana,  June  25,  1876. 

Major  Joel  H.  Elliott,  Seventh  Cavalry,  at  the 
battle  of  the  Washita,  Indian  Territory,  Novem 
ber  19,  1868. 

Surgeon  Benjamin  Tappan,  Arizona,  March, 
1866. 


SENTIMENT  RESPECTING  THE  UPRISING.        313 

Captain  Fred  H.  Brown,  Eighteenth  Infantry, 
near  Fort  Phil.  Kearney,  Wyoming  Territory, 
and  Captain  W.  J.  Fetterman,  Twenty-seventh 
Infantry,  and  Lieutenant  George  W.  Grummond, 
Eighteenth  Infantry,  in  the  same  desperate  battle 
with  Red  Cloud's  surrounding  warriors.  Decem 
ber  21,  1866. 

Lieutenant  H.  S.  Bingham,  Second  Cavalry, 
near  the  same  spot  and  by  the  same  Indians, 
December  6,  only  two  weeks  before. 

Lieutenant  Lyman  S.  Kidder,  Second  Cavalry, 
near  Fort  Wallace,  Kansas,  July,  1867. 

Lieutenant  John  C.  Jennes,  Twenty-seventh 
Infantry,  near  Fort  Phil  Kearney,  August,  1867. 
(A  fatal  neighborhood  this,  both  then  and  there 
after). 

Lieutenant  John  Madigan,  First  Cavalry,  Pitt 
River,  California,  September,  1867. 

Lieutenant  Sigismund  Sternberg,  Twenty- 
seventh  Infantry,  Fort  C.  F.  Smith  (near  Fort 
Phil.  Kearney),  August  i,  1867. 

Captain  Louis  M.  Hamilton,  Seventh  Cavalry, 
leading  the  charge  on  Black  Kettle's  village,  on 
the  Washita,  November  27,  1868.  (Same  battle 
in  which  Major  Elliott  was  killed). 

Lieutenant  Frederick  H.  Beecher,  Third  In 
fantry,  September  17,  1868,  Arickaree  Fork  of 
the  Republican,  Western  Kansas.  (Colonel 


314         SENTIMENT  RESPECTING  THE  UPRISING. 

George  A.  Forsyth,  of  Sheridan's  staff,  wounded 
and  crippled  for  life  in  the  same  fight). 

Lieutenant  William  Russell,  Jr.,  Fourth 
Cavalry,  near  Lam pasas,  Texas,  May  15,  1870. 

Lieutenant  C.  B,  Stambaugh,  Second  Cavalry, 
near  Miner's  Delight,  Wyoming,  May,  1870. 

Lieutenant  Howard  B.  Cushing,  Third  Cav 
alry  (brother  of  Albemarle  dishing,  of  the 
Navy),  Arizona,  May  5,  1870. 

Captain  Franklin  Yeaton,  Third  Cavalry, 
(died  of  wounds  received  in  same  fight) . 

Lieutenant  Fred.  R.  Vincent,  Ninth  Cavalry, 
fight  at  Howard's  Wells,  Texas,  April  20,  1872. 

Lieutenant  Eben  Crosby,  Seventeenth  Infantry, 
on  survey  of  Northern  Pacific  Railroad,  October 
5, 1872. 

Lieutenant  Lewis  Adair,  Twenty-second  Infan 
try,  same  fight. 

Lieutenant  Reid  T.  Stewart,  Fifth  Cavalry, 
Arizona,  August  27,  1872,  (murdered  by 
Apaches) . 

Captain  Evan  Thomas,  Fourth  Artillery,  Lava 
Beds,  California,  April  26,  1873,  battle  with 
Modocs. 

Lieutenant  Albion  Howe,  Fourth  Artillery, 
same  fight 

Lieutenant  Arthur  Cranston,  Fourth  Artillery, 
same  fight. 


SENTIMENT  RESPECTING  THE  UPRISING.         315 

Lieutenant  George  M.  Harris,  Fourth  Artillery, 
died  of  wounds  received  in  same  fight. 

Lieutenant  T.  P.  Wright,  Twelfth  Infantry, 
same  fight. 

Lieutenant  Jacob  Almy,  Fifth  Cavalry,  killed 
while  protecting  an  Indian  agent,  San  Carlos, 
A.  T.,  May  27,  1873. 

The  above  have  laid  down  their  lives  in  what 
may  be  called  open  warfare,  but  think  of  the  long 
list  of  those  who  have  been  slain  by  treachery — 
who  went  down  in  cold  blood  at  the  hands 
of  assassins.  The  sad  list  foots  up  as  follows  :— 

Lieutenant  William  L.  Sherwood,  Twenty- 
first  Infantry,  killed  by  Modocs,  who  enticed  him 
to  them  by  waving  a  flag  of  truce,  April  1 1,  1873. 

Lieutenant  L.  H.  Robinson,  Fourteenth  In 
fantry,  murdered  by  Sioux,  Cottonwood  Creek, 
Wyoming,  February  9,  1874. 

Captain  Myles  W.  Keogh,  Seventh  Cavalry, 
battle  of  the  Little  Horn,  Montana,  June  25,  1876. 

Captain  George  W.  Yates,  Seventh  Cavalry, 
same  fight. 

Captain  T.  W.  Custer,  Seventh  Cavalry,  same 
fight. 

Lieutenant  and  Adjutant  W.  W.  Cooke,  Sev 
enth  Cavalry,  same  fight. 

Assistant  Surgeon  George  E.  Lord,  U.  S.  A., 
same  fight. 


3i6         SENTIMENT  RESPECTING  THE  UPRISING. 

Lieutenant  A.  E.  Smith,  Seventh  Cavalry, 
same  fight. 

Lieutenant  Donald  Mclntosh,  Seventh  Cavalry 
(Reno's  battalion),  same  date. 

Lieutenant  James  Calhoun,  Seventh  Cavalry, 
same  fight. 

Lieutenant  James  E.  Porter,  Seventh  Cavalry, 
same  fight. 

Lieutenant  Benjamin  W.  Hodgson,  Seventh 
Cavalry  (Reno's  battalion),  same  date. 

Lieutenant  James  G.  Sturgis,  Seventh  Cavalry, 
same  fight. 

Lieutenant  W.  Van  W.  Reilly,  Seventh  Cav 
alry,  same  fight. 

Lieutenant  John  J.  Crittenden,  Twenty-second 
Infantry,  same  fight. 

Lieutenant  H.  M.  Harrington,  Seventh  Cav 
alry,  same  fight. 

Lieutenant  John  A.  McKinney,  Fourth  Cav 
alry,  Powder  River,  Wyoming,  November  25, 
1876. 

Captain  Owen  Hale,  Seventh  Cavalry,  Bear's 
Paw  battle  ground,  leading  the  charge  on  Chief 
Joseph's  band,  September,  30,  1877. 

Lieutenant  J.  Williams  Biddle,  Seventh  Cav 
alry,  fell  beside  his  captain  in  same  charge. 

Captain  William  Logan,  Seventh  Infantry, 
battle  of  Big  Hole  Pass,  Montana,  August  9, 1877. 


SENTIMENT  RESPECTING  THE  UPRISING.         317 

Lieutenant  James  H.  Bradley,  Seventh  In 
fantry  (the  same  officer  who  made  the  daring 
night  ride  the  previous  year  to  locate  the  survi 
vors  of  the  battle  on  the  Little  Horn)  killed  in 
the  same  fight. 

Lieutenant  William  L.  English,  Seventh  In 
fantry,  same  fight. 

Lieutenant  E.  R.  Heller,  Twenty-first  Infantry, 
White  Bird  Creek,  Idaho,  June  17,  1877. 

Captain  E.  C.  Hentig,  Sixth  Cavalry,  Arizona, 
August  30,  1881. 

Lieutenant  George  W.  Smith,  Ninth  Cavalry, 
New  Mexico,  August  19,  1881. 

Lieutenant  Seward  Mott,  Tenth  Cavalry,  Ari 
zona,  March  n,  1887. 

Lieutenant  Sevier  M.  Raines,  First  Cavalry, 
Craig's  Mountain,  Idaho,  July  3,  1877. 

Captain  Andrew  S.  Bennett,  Fifth  Infantry, 
Clark's  Fork  Mountain,  Wyoming,  September  4, 
1878. 

Major  Thomas  T.  Thornburgh,  Fourth  In 
fantry,  Milk  River,  Colorado,  September  29, 1879. 

Lieutenant  William  B.  Weir,  Ordnance  Depar- 
inent,  killed  by  Utes,  White  River,  Colorado,) 
October  20,  1879. 

Add  to  these  the  names  of  the  gifted  and  popu 
lar  Dr.  Maddox  and  Lieutenant  J.  Hansell 
French,  Tenth  Cavalry,  who  were  killed  in  the 


3i8         SENTIMENT  RESPECTING  THE  UPRISING. 

later  Apache  campaign,  and  of  gallant  Captain 
Wallace,  Seventh  Cavalry,  (the  fourth  captain  to 
be  killed  fighting  at  the  head  of  "K"  troop),  and 
now  of  "Ned"  Casey,  of  the  Twenty-second  In 
fantry,  and  augment  that  by  the  list  four  times 
its  size,  of  the  officers  now  maimed  and  crippled 
by  the  wounds  received  in  this  savage  and  in 
glorious  warfare,  and  it  mnst  be  admitted  that 
the  percentage*  of  casualties  is  indeed  heavy. 
And  then  think  of  the  enlisted  men  ! 

We  appropriate  anywhere  from  five  to  ten 
millions  of  dollars  per  annum  to  the  Indians  and 
to  their  affairs,  and  if  the  same  amount  of  money 
should  be  devoted  to  any  class  of  white  people, 
benefaction  would  be  regarded  as  one  of  the 
most  liberal  public  charities  in  the  know"n  world. 
It  is  a*  very  difficult  thing,  as  every  practical 
philanthropist  knows,  to  make  gifts  with  such 
wise  discretion  as  not  to  do  more  harm  than  good ; 
and  it  is  quite  possible  that  the  red  men  would 
be  as  well  off  in  the  long  run  if  the  Government 
should  stop  trying  to  devote  to  their  welfare  an 
average  of,  say,  seven  millions  a  year,  and,  after 
decent  notice,  should  cut  them  square  off  and  not 
give  them  another  cent  in  the  way  of  alms.  If 
we  should  leave  them  to  shift  for  themselves,  as 
Canada  does ;  let  them  get  along  how  they  can, 
get  rich  if  they  can — starve  if  they  must — they 


SENTIMENT  RESPECTING  THE  UPRISING.         319 

would  not  bring  more  reproach  and  disgrace  on 
the  country  than  they  now  do.  It  is  reasonably 
certain,  however,  that  we  shall  never  come  to 
such  a  conclusion.  We  can  let  our  own  flesh 
and  blood  take  the  chances  of  good  or  evil  fortune 
without  a  shadow  of  thought  or  care,  and  if  a 
white  man  perishes  in  misery  inconceivable  and 
all  his  tribe  with  him,  the  collective  conscience 
feels  no  twinge,  and  nobody  but  the  cranks, 
communists,  and  backward-looking  social  reform 
ers  ever  dreams  of  taking  any  Government  action 
to  prevent  or  remedy  such  dire  disasters,  so  long 
as  it  is  our  own  people  who  suffer  and  are  crush 
ed  to  death  in  the  struggle  for  existence.  But 
with  Lo  the  poor  Indian  the  case  is  different. 
He  must  have  a  better  show  than  we  even  pre 
tend  to  give  our  own,  and  the  community  feels 
a  tender  sense  of  responsibility  for  his  welfare 
that  is  hurt  and  outraged  whenever  our  clumsy 
attempts  to  help  him  are  found  to  miscarry,  as 
charitable  undertakings  so  commonly  do. 

We  have  taken  the  lands  of  these  natives,  oc 
cupied  their  hunting  grounds,  and  deprived  them 
of  the  means  of  continuing  their  savage  exist 
ence  ;  and  now  we,  the  people,  in  our  national 
capacity,  feel  that  we  must  do  what  we  can  to 
make  their  condition  tolerable,  and  aid  them  to 
live  in  some  other  than  the  savage  state  we  have 


320         SENTIMENT  RESPECTING  THE  UPRISING. 

compelled  them  to  abandon.  It  is  for  that  reason 
and  for  that  purpose  we  are  willing  to  set  aside 
every  year  such  vast  sums  for  their  use  and  be 
hoof. 

We  should,  however,  learn  a  little  by  experi 
ence.  We  know  only  too  well,  and  all  the  world 
knows,  how,  a  great  deal  of  waste  and  harm  is 
brought  about,  and  it  will  be  to  our  shame  and 
discredit  if  we  do  not  seek  to  profit  by  that  knowl 
edge.  We  have  seen  our  money  squandered  and 
the  Indians  driven  to  desperation  by  deception 
and  fraud,  because  we  have  allowed  the  national 
bounty  to  become  the  prey  of  liars  and  thiev.es. 
That  should  never  be  again.  Not  one  dollar 
should  be  appropriated  by  Congress  for  the  al 
leged  benefit  of  the  Indians  which  will  go,  as  we 
do  know  it  will  go  under  the  present  agency  sys 
tem,  into  the  pockets  of  plunderers. 


